


The Girl in the Street

by Lion01



Series: Korrasami Week 2017 [7]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Cute, Day 7 - Family, F/F, Fluff, Korrasami Week 2017, Married Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-02
Updated: 2018-12-23
Packaged: 2019-01-08 07:54:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12250194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lion01/pseuds/Lion01
Summary: Korra and Asami had decided not to have any child. Well… decided… People might say that it wasn't really a choice. What they didn't plan was Asami saving a very young girl and bringing her at home. And maybe, just maybe, they would have to reconsider.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Français available: [La Fille dans la rue](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15014552) by [Lion01](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lion01/pseuds/Lion01)



> So... Where to start? I'll make it simple. Remember Korrasami Week? I've been super busy, and super tired, and I didn't post the last one. Actually, this is the last one: "Day 7 - Family". And I'm awfully late. (Sorry!)
> 
> This thing grew bigger, and bigger, and bigger, every time I wrote it! So, I can't even publish it in one chapter! I have a lot to do, I just have to find time. So, I'll publish this, for now, I'll finish it later (I already have to finish Honeymoon, among other things...), and I hope it's not a disaster because I didn't correct the mistakes! I'll go through it later on. Maybe even this week. I hope starting to correct the first ones. 
> 
> Well, that's all, I think... So, enjoy!
> 
> EDIT: Mistakes fixed! I was a bit confused because of anteriority which doesn't seem to be the same in French and in English... I hope I used good tenses, as ever. Also, rating and tags will certainly change.

Korra and Asami had decided not to have any child. Well… decided… People might say that it wasn't really a choice.

The thing was, Asami being the CEO of Future Industries and Korra being the Avatar, they were already struggling to have a balanced relationship at the same time as a balanced world. They could not possibly ruin a child's life. They could not sacrifice someone's happiness for theirs. Or at least, that was what they tried think.

After all, they were each other family and they were happy this way. That was the case for Asami. She had no family left. She had just Korra and their friends. Maybe it was enough. Maybe it was not…

She remembered when she was younger dreaming of having a child. But that was years ago! Now, she had a powerful company, which needed her, a powerful wife she loved deeply, but who was always needed.

Plus, when she had been a naive, young girl, she hadn't pictured ending up with another woman, nor with the Avatar… It kind of hadn't really gone the way she had imagined it. But it wasn't a problem! Like, it wasn't a problem at all! She was happy and it was what mattered the most. But sometimes, she thought it would be a different kind of happiness to have a child to take care of… It would be a different family.

For Korra, it was a bit different. Well, actually, she had never really thought about it. The only thing she had been obsessed by, when she had been younger, was being the Avatar.

And then… then, she had tried to find love too, but it was not her duty. It kind of had fallen on her. And she was really glad it had! After all, she was not quite sure she would have managed to be where she was without Asami by her side. Well, of course there were her other friends, but Asami was Asami.

She was so much support, so much love; she was amazing! She had no doubt that she would stay with Asami for the rest of her life. It could only be her. The love of her life. For Korra, this love was sufficient. And actually, she had never tried to see further, she didn't need to. She was just living the present life. And her present life was all she had ever dreamt about.

So, whether for Asami or Korra, they didn't really plan to have a child. Expect that, sometimes, nothing happens as it was planned.

* * *

Asami got out from work. It was not a too tiring day and she was glad of it. Actually, she thought she might even stop to where Korra was supposed to be… if she could remember where she was supposed to be.

For Asami, it was simpler: most of the time she was at the Future Industries' tower. For Korra though, she was always moving, and Asami would not remember where she was half the time. She had a good memory! But she really would need a planning to get where Korra was most of the time. Maybe she was on the triads' sides? She had talked about it… Well, it wouldn't hurt to check… normally.

She checked she had her glove, because you never knew what could happen on their territory. Then, she hopped in the car and began driving through the city. She let the wind caress her hair and lighten her thoughts. Being in an office most of the day couldn't do that. It was so relaxing to drive!

She drove to the possibly dangerous area she wanted to get to. She kept driving, looking around to see if the Avatar showed up. But, it was like all silent, all weird, nothing was moving, nothing was around, which was really odd. Even when some dirty things were going on, there was always something happening in here! Maybe Korra or the police had just passed by? But then, wouldn't the inhabitants be out?

Asami looked around again; maybe she missed something. But she saw nothing. Nothing except maybe that little thing moving down the street, on the right… Perhaps it was someone who could help her. She decided to park her car rather than to turn around. The street was too little, and she didn't want to go farther while that someone might go away.

Once out of the car — she, of course, had taken her glove —, she began walking toward the street, which was now on her left. She walked, and she heard some strange noises. Maybe it was voices… But she thought no one was out!

She started walking faster toward the street, and she saw a few figures in it. What was weird was that there was a little, tiny figure among them. The closer Asami got, the more she saw that it was three men, with a little girl. What was she doing with them?

Well, she could imagine one of them would be her father, or one of her relatives, but… something was off. Thhey looked a bit strange. The young child was with a little soft toy in her hands, walking and staring at the ground, hugging it tightly. She looked… lonely, and lost, in some kind of way.

As for them, they were too proud, too careless, too… bad-looking. They had that awful smirk on their faces. And they were talking to the girl now. She wasn't responding. Asami got closer, trying to catch what they were saying.

"Come on, we won't leave you here. The street's dangerous, y'know. Why don't you come with us, little girl? We could use your help and you would have a place to live."

"Yeah, we don't have many children! But I'm sure some people would love to take care of such a beautiful little girl, if you help them a little…"

"Nothing dangerous, y'know. Just hanging out, caring thing…"

Were they… hiring her? But she was just a child! Now, she understood how Mako and Bolin had ended up working for the triads as children. They had nothing and triads had been able to provide them what was needed.

She didn't know about the little girl but she certainly didn't want to join them. And even if she did, it would be a great mistake, a mistake Asami could prevent. She was going to make them leave.

"Guys, you should leave the girl alone," Asami said, not wanting to fight just yet.

She had a tiny bit of hope they would leave without questioning her. However, it didn't happen:

"What are you doing here, girl? Can't you see we're talking business? Now, go and you won't be hurt, since I'm in a good day."

"Leave the girl alone and _you_ won't be hurt."

"Now, now, now, looks like we have a courageous one! Who are you? Her mum?"

"I'm just a concerned citizen, and I say the girl is leaving with me."

"The girl is ours. Guys, get rid of her."

Two of the men rushed toward her. One had fire in her hand and the other one was an earthbender. She quickly knocked them out, before they could use any bending against her.

"Go, or I'll do the same thing to you," she warned.

"Sure, that was what I was thinking…" he said, ironically.

Well, then it was a fight! He was a firebender, like the first one she knocked out. He tried to blow some punches at her and she rushed forward. She bent to make him fall with a kick in the legs, and shocked him.

It was pretty easy. These guys underestimated her. But now, she had a bigger problem: the little girl. What was she supposed to do with her?

She kneeled down to talk to the girl, who was still staring at the ground, but who had stopped walking.

"Hey, are you okay?" Asami asked, concerned. "Where are your parents? You shouldn't be alone. It's pretty dangerous down here, you know…"

The girl didn't respond, and the CEO didn't know what to say.

She brushed a strand of black hair out of the girl's face to see more than just the top of her head. The contact almost made the black-haired girl move back, but she just looked up at her savior, without saying anything.

Asami was struck by the girl's blue eyes. They were almost white, actually. It was such a beautiful contrast with her dark hair. But what was even more striking was the wounds she had on her cheeks, her puffy eyes, and that deep sadness inside of them. What had happened to her?

"Do you want me to take you somewhere? It's really not safe, I can't leave you here."

The girl lowered her head once more and Asami was clueless. All she knew was that she couldn't leave this little girl alone here. But where should she go?

Maybe… well, the best was the police. Maybe Beifong would have a solution. She knew the gray-haired woman was not the sweetest person to make a little girl talk, but maybe she could find her a place to stay for a while. The problem now was how was she going to make the girl want to come with her?

"Listen, I'm not leaving you here. I'm bringing you to the police station, if that's fine? I mean, they may be able to help you… My car is down the street…"

Mentally, she was telling herself that she sounded like a psychopath abducting a child.

"Okay, maybe you don't want me to help you… I mean, I'm just an adult, and I could be like these guys and could harm you. Um… I can understand you don't want to come with me, but you can't stay alone, and certainly not here. I don't want to force you, so please, come with me. I just want to help you. You won't owe me anything! You won't have to do anything. It's just for you."

The girl didn't move and Asami couldn't do more. She hoped the girl would follow her, because she didn't want to 'kidnap' her. She sighed and got up, starting walking back to her car.

She started feeling bad for leaving the girl alone, for leaving a child in the street, but what should she do? Maybe she was leaving nearby. Maybe she was just going to her parents. Maybe she didn't need her help.

All these thoughts stopped, and she almost jumped out of surprise, when a little hand gripped hers. Asami looked next to her, and the girl was here, still looking at the ground, but following her.

"Thank you," Asami said, softy.

She couldn't be happier. She stayed silent though, because the girl didn't want to talk. Or, maybe she didn't know? Well, she was supposed to know how to talk. She was maybe 4 or 5 years old. Maybe a little bit more. Asami could not say. She didn't try to figure out, and just walked with the girl to her car. When they reached it, Asami noticed there was going to be a little problem:

"Oh, spirits, I'm stupid! I don't have a child seat. Well, we're not supposed to have an accident, but one never knows… Just don't move. I think I have an idea."

Asami opened the trunk where she had a toolbox. She could certainly take a seat from the back to put on the one of the front. Or rather, it was what she hoped managing to do. And after a few minutes, it was what she actually did.

"Okay, now, it's better. Let's go."

She waited for the girl to get in the car, and fastened her seat belt. Then, she did the same for herself and headed toward the police station.

When she got out of the car, as well as the girl, the latter took her hand once more. Asami smiled to her, even if she was looking straight forward. It was moving how the girl were clinging to her. The young adult thought that she must have been alone for a while… It was like she felt a bit more secured like that. And Asami was glad to inspire this trust.

They walked into the police station and the CEO asked to see Lin. The older woman showed up a few minutes later.

"Miss Sato, what are you doing here?" the police chief asked, with her usual rash ton of voice.

She then noticed the girl, holding onto the young woman.

"Who's this?"

"Actually, I don't know."

Before she could explain, Lin continued:

"You don't know? You have a child holding your hand and you don't know who she is?"

"Yeah… It's complicated. But to make it simple, I found her in triads' territory, and I thought you might help me find her parents. She doesn't want to talk, so I don't know what to do…"

The gray-haired woman grunted before responding:

"Let's get a room."

They went into an interrogation room, and Lin sat across the two seats where Asami and the girl, who wouldn't release her, were.

"So… what's your name?" Lin asked, not really sweet, as Asami expected.

The girl tightened her grip, feeling attacked and frightened. Asami felt it and tried to ease her.

"It's okay, sweetie," she said, with the softest voice ever. "The woman here is the chief of police, she just wants to help you."

The girl looked up at her with these fearful, blue eyes, and Asami was not sure if she was going to talk. It didn't look like it…

"I need to know your name to contact your parents," Lin explained.

The girl looked at her feet and kept quiet.

"Do you know where you live, then?" Lin tried again.

The girl kept staring at her feet, silent.

"I can't help you if you say nothing…" Lin said, a bit disappointed.

She really could do nothing for the girl, but she was not willing to talk. The two women waited, but the girl didn't move nor talked.

"Asami," Lin called, "let's talk outside."

The CEO nodded and got up. The girl held her hand strongly, as if to say: "do not leave".

"I'm coming back. I promise," Asami swore. "We just have to have a grown-up talk. I'm sure you wouldn't like it. Just stay here and I'll come back. Okay?"

The girl loosened her grip and Asami freed her hand, walking out of the room, where Lin was waiting for her. She closed the door, leaving the little girl alone.

"I can't do anything, Asami," Lin admitted. "She doesn't want to talk! I'm not even sure she talks…"

"She understands. I'm sure she knows how to speak. She's maybe a bit lost… or shy, or whatever. What about finding her a family to stay with? She needs someone to take care of her and make her feel comfortable enough to talk."

"I'm afraid I can't…" Lin grimaced.

"Why?"

"We went to the triads' today, freeing dozens of children they hired to do their dirty work. And we're struggling to find a family for each of them. Do I have to remind you we already have to relocate some citizens because of dangerous buildings? She may wait for days until we find her a place to stay, maybe more. Or she'll stay here. It's not really a place for young children, though."

Asami grimaced. That was not good.

"You could take her with you," Lin added.

"What?" Asami asked, surprised.

"I said you could take her with you."

"Yeah, I got it, thanks."

Lin shrugged and started to explain her point:

"I mean, it looks like she likes you. She's clinging onto you and you obviously want to make sure she's safe."

"Yeah, I know, but don't we have some kind of papers to fill for that? Unless you entrust children to anyone."

"Well, usually we make sure the person is safe, but I can make an exception for once."

"You would do that?" Asami smirked, knowing how rigid Lin could be.

"I know how to find you if anything goes wrong. And I'm pretty sure you can't disappear with a company counting on you. Oh, and the Avatar would destroy half the earth to find you. So, I'm pretty sure I can trust you with this girl."

Asami chuckled. That was a pretty good point.

"Anyway, do you take her or not?"

"Yeah… Um… Yeah."

While she was saying that, she wondered if Korra would be okay with it… But she thought about it too late, and she just couldn't leave the girl here, anyway. So, her wife was going to deal with it. But maybe she wouldn't explain this way… She would think about it later.

"Then, go get her," the chief of police ordered. "I'll fill the papers."

"Okay, Lin. Thanks! See you!"

The older woman waved and got back to work, while Asami was entering the room again. The girl barely moved.

Asami kneeled down again, facing her.

"So… I talked with the chief of police…" the CEO started, actually wondering if the girl would be okay staying with her. "And I thought you would rather come with me than stay in here. Is that okay, though? I mean, you'll maybe stay with me for a few days and we'll try searching for your family."

The girl didn't move first, nor talked. But then, she put her little arms around Asami's neck, as if to say: "thank you". The young woman hugged her back, raising her from the chair. She left the police station with the little girl in her arms.

Now, she just had to go home and talk to Korra. It shouldn't be too complicated…

* * *

Asami didn't know whether she should try harder to make the girl talk or leave her alone.

It had been two hours since they came back to the mansion and she was still quiet, too quiet… She was just sitting on a chair, drawing on some papers Asami gave her. The young CEO had tried numerous times to get a little sound out of the girl's mouth, but nothing had reached her ears.

So, she was just watching the girl drawing, trying to see if her drawings could show her anything. Maybe she really didn't know how to talk, maybe she was even mute. Then, she would draw or write something, right? However, from what Asami was seeing, it was nothing really… precise.

Asami thought she would just be patient. She could not force her to do something. Maybe Korra would have more luck than her… She was the Avatar, after all; the girl might know her. Speaking of whom, she had just arrived.

"Hey, Asami! Guess what? Some of the… Who's she?" Korra asked once she had noticed the little girl.

"Hi, Korra! Um… Well, I don't know her name. It's a long story."

"Did I miss nine months and I don't know how many years of our life?"

Asami chuckled and went to Korra.

"No, you didn't. She's going to stay with us for a little while, if that's okay. She was all alone in the street. I could not leave her there! And I went to Beifong, she said no one could take care of her. So, I thought we could do it for a few days or so."

"Okay… And she has no name?"

"She doesn't want to talk. At least with me. Don't you want to try? Maybe because you're the Avatar, she may trust you more."

"Sure."

Korra got closer to the girl and Asami followed her. The Avatar kneeled down, presenting herself:

"Hi, I'm Korra. I'm leaving in here too, so we'll be housemate. I'm also the Avatar. I don't know if your parents talked to you about me… I have to maintain balance in the world. I just want to help people. I certainly can help you too. May I know your name?"

The girl stared at her, but didn't say anything. Korra, after a few seconds, looked back at Asami, who shrugged. Well, that was a good try. She got up and turned around.

"I'm not sure she wants to talk right now, maybe later?"

"I hope so…" Asami responded, a little annoyed.

"Oh, Asami… Don't look so sad," Korra said, softy, cupping the other woman's cheek. "You know, during the first days I spent in that compound in the South, I wouldn't talk to anyone because I was far from my parents for the first time. So, she just needs time too."

The pale-skinned woman put her hand on Korra's in agreement.

"How was your day?" she asked, changing the subject.

"Tiring. I was with Beifong and we freed several children."

"Yeah, that was what I've been heard."

"Maybe she's one of them…" Korra added.

They both looked at the young child, who was staring at them with wide eyes.

"And how was your day?" the Avatar asked, resuming their conversation.

"Fine. I mean, tiring, and I had to fight against three men to save her. But beside that, everything was fine."

"Good," Korra said, approaching Asami's ear. "Do you think I can kiss you in front of the girl, or that would be inappropriate, because, let's be honest, I would have done it much earlier if it weren't for her."

Asami chuckled. Of course, Korra not kissing her when she came back home was all too weird.

"I don't know, Korra… Maybe her parents…"

But Asami didn't manage to finish her sentence, because of Korra's lips on hers.

"Why are you two kissing?" a little voice said.

The two women almost jumped out of surprise, breaking their kiss. Saying that they were surprised was actually an understatement. They both looked at the young girl, and then at each other, excited. She talks! they thought.

Asami was the one to squat down to face the girl and answer:

"We kiss because we love each other."

She didn't know if the girl had never seen two people kiss, or if she was just curious.

"I've never seen two women kiss before," the girl said.

Ah, yeah. Asami often forgot that little, tiny detail.

"Well… Sometimes, two women can fall in love, just like two men can, and a man and a woman."

She had never imagined herself explaining that to a very young girl. It was a funny situation, though, as long as it's not awkward.

"Does it mean I could fall in love with a woman too?" she asked, curious.

"Maybe when you'll be older. Who knows? You're a bit young for now to think about things like that."

The girl looked like she understood and went back drawing. Asami looked at her wife, behind her: what was she supposed to do? The Avatar nodded at the young child, inciting Asami to continue talking, and maybe get some information.

"Sweetie," Asami started to say to the girl, "I need to know some things if you're going to live here. You don't have to say what you don't want to, okay? But maybe your name and your age to start?"

Two light, blue eyes turned to her, stopping focusing on the drawing.

"Why do you need to know?"

What a strange question!

"Well, I need to know how I can call you, and it's better if I know your age."

The girl nodded.

"The last people I told my name were not even using it…"

"But I will. I really want to know how you're called."

She nodded again.

"I'm Isolina. I'm five."

"Ok, thanks for telling me. You can trust us, you know."

"Does that mean you're going to stop calling me 'sweetie'? I like it. My mother called me like that."

"I…" Asami began, unable to find an answer. "No, I won't stop. But I can't call you that all the time. People are going to think it's your name!"

The girl smiled and Asami was happy. Maybe she'd get her to open up…


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First evening together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> Ok, first, I am so sorry! I know, it's been a long time, like 8 months or something? I didn't give up! I really didn't. 
> 
> So, for those of you who want to know the reason, here it is: I started an OS, a French one, at the same time as this story, but I didn't manage to finish it in one chapter. So, I wanted to finish that story first, because it wasn't supposed to be long. However, I spent months on it, because it became a monster! 
> 
> When I finished it, it was busy time of the year, so I couldn't really take care of this story, and then I left for the USA for a month, without my computer. So, I did that awful thing: I wrote on the phone... And even if I have some chapters on advance, I don't like them, so I hesitated posting this one. But, I know you all waited long for this (if you're still there after all this time ^^'), so here it is! 
> 
> I don't know when the next chapter will be, because I have a lot to correct and to translate, since I decided to post the French version at the same time. Believe me, it is better this way, because I can write things better in French, so it'll help the story. Plus, I really have to change... a lot of things about what happens next, because I really find it awful. 
> 
> As ever, I am sorry for any mistake. I'm still learning English, and even if I'm not terrible at it, I'm not perfect either. Same problem with the characters talking, it might be a bit different.
> 
> But enough talking! Enjoy!

For a while, the two women left the little girl to her drawings. She was on a table, with her sheets of paper, her pencils and her purple stuffed bear, focused on her work of art. It was, apparently, some… fireworks? It was really colorful anyway. 

Then, the three of them ate. The little girl was still really quiet, but Korra and Asami decided to let her talk whenever she wanted to, and, of course, if she didn’t want to, it was okay too. 

So, they were living in a calm silence, except when the two women talked. However, they were afraid of shutting her out by talking too much. They didn’t want her to feel rejected: she had to feel comfortable. 

The thing was, she was shutting herself out all by herself. So, they first thought they would leave her alone for some time. Meanwhile, they talked about some serious stuff: 

"So… hum…" Korra started, "did you think about how we're going to take care of her? It's maybe just a few days, but we have busy days ahead of us…"

"I didn't," Asami admitted with aplomb.

"You didn't? Look at this, the legendary monster of planning and organization, Asami Sato, didn't plan anything!"

"It's not funny, Korra! I didn't think… She was just like a little, abandoned kitten; I could not possibly leave her like that. I know I put us in a difficult position, but…"

Korra put her hands on Asami's shoulders to interrupt her. The green eyes were caught by the solid and determined, blue ones. 

"Okay, stop that,” the Avatar ordered, firmly. “It's okay. I certainly would have done the same thing… Well, that's how I got Naga, except that she wasn't supposed to stay only for a few days, but more like… forever. I'm okay with the girl living with us, it's just that I don't know how we're going to manage it."

"She doesn't require much attention, I could take her at the office tomorrow. And maybe I can plan a few days off to take care of her…"

"You don't do that for me!" Korra pouted, jokingly. 

"Well, every time I try, you're going away from me."

"True. But you can't most of the time."

"Also true."

"I'm tired," a little voice said from downward. 

The two women almost jumped out of surprise. Once they noticed that it was only Isolina, they calmed down thinking they would have to get used to it.

Asami looked at the time: it was 9:13 p.m. A bit late for a young child. Realizing that, the CEO thought she would have to be more aware of what Isolina needed. She could not possibly live like two grown-up women. Asami might have to change her habits…

"Okay… Do you want to shower before going to bed?” she suggested. “I don't know how long you've been in the street…"

"Just one day," Isolina answered as if it were one of the most natural things in the world.

"Okay… I'll show you where it is, but… do you need me to wash you?" 

"Asami, she's five. I don't think she needs you to help her…" Korra interrupted, exasperated. 

"You needed me, and you were twenty-one," Asami responded maliciously, with a smirk.

"Hey!" the Avatar protested, about to express how unfair it was to use such an argument against her when she had no possibility to respond in front of the girl.

But before she could justify, Isolina chuckled putting her two hands on her laughing, baby face.

"Oh, I see, you two girls team up against me," the Avatar said crossing her arms and pouting.

"What do you think, Isolina? Can we defeat the all-mighty Avatar, master of all elements?"

The girl chuckled again, responding to Asami's smile.

"I'm not only the master of all elements…"

"Aren't you?" Asami responded, curious about the answer.

She glanced at Korra, who was wearing a bit of a wolfish smile and predatory eyes, all of that in a playful mood.

"I'm also the master of tickles!" she exclaimed, before throwing herself on Asami.

She started tickling her wife’s sides. The latter struggled in these strong arms which were holding her waist, even if she was laughing hard. She screamed then, laughing:

"Ah! Run, Isolina! Run! She'll come get you!"

The young child burst out laughing, starting to escape clumsily with her little and uncertain steps, on her little feet.

"Oh, no. You won't get away that easily," the evil Avatar said.

She tortured Asami a little harder, seizing the girl while she was recovering. She tickled Isolina a little softer than Asami, not wanting to break the girl, who was like some kind of fragile object for her. 

She laughed hard with that young, innocent laugh that only a child could have. But Asami, still smiling inanely, tried to free her ally by attacking their common enemy. The Avatar struggled, the girl still in her hand.

"Oh no! I'm attacked! You fool!"

She laughed heartily as Asami dug her fingers in her ribs and in her neck, so much so that she needed to go down on one of her knees in order not to collapse onto the floor.

"Stop it, Asami! I'm surrendering, I'm surrendering!" the Avatar begged, tears from laughing in her eyes.

"See, Isolina? We won!" the CEO stated, stopping her gentle torture and letting Korra recover and free Isolina.

"Yeah!" the girl shouted, laughing and smiling more than she had had since Asami had met her.

The CEO smiled too. Then, she remembered the time.

"Okay, now, with this brilliant victory, let's prepare to go to bed." 

Asami walked out of the kitchen, where they had been until then, and asked Isolina to follow her. She guided her to the bathroom, before talking:

"So, here it is… um… Shout if you need me? Don't listen to Korra, she's got separated from her parents pretty soon, so she assumes every child is able to take care of themselves. Well, for this kind of things, not the money thing or the food thing… She barely manages it today."

Asami winked, trying to be funny by teasing her wife.

"I am hearing you, Asami!" Korra shouted from elsewhere.

"I know!" Asami shouted back, smiling. "Well, I'm here if you need me," she continued for Isolina.

"It should be okay…" Isolina said, fidgeting, a bit unsure and nervous. "But… what should I wear then? I don't have any other clothes but the ones I'm wearing…"

"Spirits! I didn't think of that!" Asami grimaced.

The more time passed, the more she realized that she was not ready at all to take care of the young girl.

"But I did," Korra said from behind the other woman.

"You did?" Asami asked, surprised, turning herself to face the Avatar.

"Don't look so surprised! I have a brain too, ma'am the CEO. Besides, isn't it my job to think of all the things you don't?"

Asami kissed Korra briefly before answering.

"It is, indeed. And what did you think as a solution?"

"I called Bolin and Opal. They have some clothes from their daughter, who is now older than Isolina and too big to wear those clothes. I'm sorry Isolina, but all shops are closed right now, and I didn't think of a better solution."

"I'm okay with it."

"Good. Then, I'd better go. I'll be back soon!"

Korra got away, took her kite and flew out of the mansion to Bolin and Opal's house.

"You know what?" Asami said. "We'll get you some clothes tomorrow. I just have to…"

Find time. She'd have to find time to do that. 

However, she didn't finish her sentence, not wanting the girl to worry, or to make her feel as if she were a problem. Instead, she started a new one:

"I'll manage it. So, I let you do what you have to do. Take your time. And remember, I'm here if you need me."

"Thanks, Asami."

The woman smiled. Once Isolina disappeared in the bathroom, the CEO was already planning how to gain some time for the next day. 

She settled down in the living room and took her agenda. Maybe she could cancel a few things… But actually, meetings were not what took her all her time, but all the responsibilities were, including lots of paperwork. 

Korra got back a few minutes later, with a bag full of clothes. 

"She's still showering?" Korra asked.

"Yeah," Asami answered, trapped in her thoughts.

"Have you thought about giving her a towel?"

Asami grunted, frustrated.

"No, I forgot,” she admitted. “I'm not very good at this, am I?"

"No, you're tired and not prepared,” Korra corrected. “It's different."

She dropped the bag, putting it against the legs of Asami’s chair. Then, she massaged her shoulders lightly for her to relax. The CEO let her body slightly loosen itself, exhaling a light breath of satisfaction and closing delicately her green eyes. 

Soon, however, Korra stopped and kissed her on the temple, as she had heard the water stop running.

"I'll take care of it," she said, taking back the bag full of clothes. "You should prepare her a room, though."

"Yeah, I'll do that." 

While Korra was bringing "new" clothes to Isolina, Asami prepared a guest room, not far from theirs, for the girl. 

It was not long before she arrived, brought by Korra. She was wearing white and purple pajamas, matching her stuffed animal which was always with her. However, the pajamas were a bit too big.

Asami squatted down to talk to Isolina.

"So, here is your room. Is it okay?"

The girl looked around with her light, blue eyes, and then nodded.

"Good. I'll be just next door if you need anything," Asami said. "Feel free to come. We'll be happy to help you with anything."

The girl nodded again. It looked like she decided not to talk anymore. 

The two women put Isolina to bed, making sure she'd feel comfortable, before exiting the room to let the girl sleep peacefully. 

Then, they went to bed too. 

Most of the time they didn't go to bed that early, but Asami was afraid of Isolina getting lost in the mansion while looking for them so, she preferred staying where the girl could find them. 

They talked a bit, already under the covers. Eventually, Asami blurted out of nowhere:

"I'm sorry."

"For what?" asked Korra, incredulous.

"Isolina. I did everything on impulse and I didn't even think of you. Plus, I'm not prepared to take care of her. At all."

"Asami, stop thinking like that. You did what you thought was right and I think you were right to do so. As long as the girl is comfortable with us, it's okay, don't you think?"

"I don't know…"

"She trusts you, Asami."

"Yeah, and I'll find her family. We have to."

"I'm sure you will."

Korra and Asami kissed lightly, in a tender kiss where the dark-skinned hands ran through the raven hair, and were the pale ones cupped the brown-skinned face. But, interrupting them, a little voice said:

"I can't sleep."

Isolina was at the door—which they had left open on purpose—, looking at them and holding her little, purple, stuffed animal, which was dragged beside her, in one hand. Was she going to bump into them kissing every time? 

Asami looked at the time. It was more than 11 p.m. She was certainly too afraid to sleep alone.

"Then, come," the CEO said.

The girl came closer and climbed into the bed. She went to Asami who put her under the covers with them.

"You sleep in the same bed too?" the girl asked, curious.

Her innocence and naivety made Asami smile. 

"Well, isn't it what couples do?" she answered. 

"I guess it is…"

The young CEO caressed the black hair of the girl, a soothing movement to make her fall asleep. But the girl shuddered, when she touched her.

"Do you want me to stop?" Asami asked, worried she made her uncomfortable.

The girl shook her head and came closer to Asami's body, pressing herself against her. Asami stopped moving a little, stiffening up slightly, and looked at Korra. She was a bit surprised: she was not expecting the girl to be that affectionate. 

Finally, she resumed her movement and Korra shrugged.

"You're cold," Isolina said. 

And she went to Korra, whose eyes widened. 

Actually, she hadn't found that surprising that the girl went to Asami: she had saved her, so she certainly had developed some kind of affection toward her. And Asami had been very sweet and caring all the time. Which was not as true for Korra. She certainly was kind in her own way, but she had been with the child less time. 

But there she was, pressed against her to find warmth. Asami smirked at Korra’s confusion, continuing to stroke Isolina's hair. 

Soon, the young girl was peacefully asleep.

"Looks like she likes you," Asami murmured.

"Only because you're not warm enough for her," Korra responded as low as her wife.

"I don't think so. She would not approach you at all otherwise."

Korra hummed. 

"We should sleep too," Asami added.

"Yeah… I would do that if I weren't afraid of squashing her while I'm asleep!"

Asami softly chuckled.

"Come on, Korra. You won't."

She kissed her wife good night, because there was no more to add. Korra didn't quite agree with that. She was not serene at all about sleeping with this little thing against her. However, she eventually fell asleep and didn't destroy the girl while sleeping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Of course, feel free to leave a comment :) Actually, I really appreciate it and I need to now if you guys are still interested in it, because... I kind of lost my confidence with this story. I want to do it right! So, tell me about your thoughts!
> 
> See you later!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new day that Asami has to spend at work with Isolina.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> Here is another chapter! I hope you'll like it, like the two first ones! It's just a normal day, though x)
> 
> By the way, don't expect me to go as fast for the other chapters. I've already written a bit of them, that's why I went that fast for this one. But, I should write xD So, I think I'll update every two weeks. Is that ok? I'll always try to go faster, but maybe I will not even manage to update every two weeks... I'll do as best as I can!
> 
> So, now, enjoy!

* * *

When the two women woke up, they were surprised to find that little body in their bed. However, they eventually remembered what had happened the day before: Isolina hadn't been able to sleep and had come to see them.

Once they got up, they did as usual, only with one more person with them: they breakfasted, got prepared for work and got out. Isolina had not said much, as usual.

Asami kissed Korra and Isolina stared once again at them as if it were some miracle. Maybe they should stop kissing, Asami thought. It was a bit strange to be stared at this way, actually. She brushed those thoughts away, thinking that Korra would never manage not to kiss her. And she was not even sure she could manage it herself.

Asami eventually took the girl at work with her. Her employees stared at her with wide eyes, incredulous. They had never seen their CEO with a child before. And wasn't she supposed not to take her at work? The green-eyed woman ignored them, and climbed up the stairs of the tower of Future Industries, heading straight to her office, with Isolina holding her hand.

She only stopped to talk to her assistant.

"Hi, Lu," Asami said.

He stopped scribbling something on a piece of paper, only to smile at his boss.

"Hi, Miss Sato. Do you need anything?" he asked professionally.

"Actually, I do. Could you please find me a little table with a chair? And, if you have some pieces of paper or games for children, I'll take them."

"You're planning to open a school in your office?" he joked with a smirk, giving up on all the formalities since the request didn't sound very professional.

"No, but I have a girl with me, and I want her to feel comfortable."

She nodded at Isolina and her assistant got up to see her, his desk being too high to see anything beside the chest of the adult people he spoke to.

The young girl was looking through the window, as if something were interesting outside, holding Asami's hand in one of hers and her soft toy in the other one. She actually was chewing the ear of the purple teddy bear.

"Ooooh, I see. So, Korra and you finally adopted?" he asked, curious.

"Not exactly... We're just taking care of her for a few days. Anyway, if you could find those things, it would be perfect. Otherwise, just go back to work, I don't want you to be late on your schedule."

"Yes, Miss Sato."

While her assistant's phone was ringing, requiring his attention, Asami entered her office. She really hoped she would not disturb his work too much with such unusual requests...

She closed the door behind her and Isolina, and kneeled to talk to the girl.

"So, here is my office," she showed almost shyly, with a little smile.

The girl looked around. There wasn't much. The office was painted with warm colors such as red and orange. There was a wooden desk near the window, covered with a bunch of pieces of paper and little objects she didn't know.

Asami got up to sit on her chair, starting to look through the papers on it. She wasn't expecting Isolina to say "nice", because she hadn't talked since the day before. The CEO looked surprised for a bit, and then looked at the girl, smiling tenderly.

"I'm glad you like it," she said. "Someone will bring you something so you don't get bored."

Isolina shrugged. She walked around, looking at everything as if she was expecting to find some kind of miracle while exploring.

While she was doing this, Asami started to think about the problems of the day, like the meeting she had in two hours and how she would have to bring the girl with her.

Not that she thought that Isolina was a problem. She would certainly stay quiet, barely moving, somewhere where no one would be able to notice her.

The problem was that it didn't show a good image of the businesswoman she was. Well, they maybe wouldn't care. After all, her father had brought her to meetings before. But she was not her father.

"Who's this?" Isolina asked, interrupting her thoughts.

The girl could barely see above the desk because she was too little. She was on her tiptoes and pointing at a photo. A photo of Asami, her dad and her mother, years ago.

Asami took the girl on her knees so she could see without struggling for it.

"It was my family," Asami answered with a sad ton of voice.

""It was"? Why "was"?" the girl asked, curious.

"They are gone now. Korra is my family."

The girl nodded.

"My family is gone too," she said.

Asami smiled sadly. The girl was not understanding what she meant by "gone". But she didn't want to tell her that her parents were dead. It would only make her uncomfortable and ask more questions. Which was actually painful.

"We'll find your family, Isolina. I promise."

The girl only lowered her head, as if she didn't believe her. Asami was going to prove her otherwise. She was going to find her parents. But for now, she could only comfort the girl and take care of her the best she could. So, she kissed her on her hair.

Isolina raised her head to see Asami's sweet smile. She smiled back and hugged her. The green eyes greatly softened and their owner caressed the black hair of the young girl slowly.

Asami knew she was going to get attached to that little girl. She was already attached to her, to her innocence, her curiosity, to her great youngness. She was not sure it was going to be really healthy, because when she returned her to her parents, she would be heartbroken. But for now… for now, she would ignore that and take care of her, give her love and support, as much as she needed.

The rest of the hour, they decided to share the chair and the desk. Asami kept Isolina on her knees and worked. As for Isolina, she drew.

Then, they had to go to the meeting Asami had planned. She thought she could almost leave the girl in her office and ask her assistant not to let anyone in. However, this thought vanished quickly when she got up and Isolina was still clinging onto her. It looked like she still needed to have her nearby, or rather really close.

As expected, the meeting was really boring. Asami sometimes let her look go toward Isolina who was playing with her little purple soft toy, in a corner, without making any noise. She didn't manage not to get distracted by this adorable and childish sight. Itmade her smile and drift away several times, but she managed not to let it be noticed... Not much.

When they returned to the office, what she asked to Lu had been brought into it. So, Isolina could go to her own little desk to do whatever she wanted to.

Asami worked for hours, looking from time to time to the girl to make sure she was okay and also because she was an adorable distraction.

She noticed that Isolina was often staring at her. Sometimes, she would even get up to be closer to Asami, taking a few hesitant steps around the young woman's desk as if she felt less alone by doing so.

Asami would then notice her moving, and, raising her head, she would softy smile at her. Then, the young girl would go back, happy, to her own desk.

* * *

With all the work the CEO had to do to be left alone with Isolina, the day ended very fast. She got out of her office with Isolina, and her assistant, who noticed her, said:

"Already heading home? That's unusual of you, Miss Sato."

"Well, I have to stop by the police station and get some stuff for the girl, so I don't really have a choice," she justified. "But I promise I'll catch up later."

Her assistant chuckled.

"When are you going to understand that you're the boss and you owe nothing to your employees? We're not here to judge you, we know you have a life too. So, go before it's too late."

"See you tomorrow!" she said. "Oh! And thank you for the desk and the other things."

"You're welcome. Ask if you ever need something again."

"I will."

She then got out of the tower with Isolina and drove to the police station, where she asked for Lin again.

"Miss Sato, you're here again," she said as an introduction, as if it were an annoyance. "Something's wrong with the girl? You don't want to keep her anymore?"

"No, nothing like that. She's adorable. And she actually talks. That's why I'm here. Her name is Isolina and she's five. So, maybe we could try find her parents now?"

"I guess… Listen, it's not that I don't want to, but I have like thirty children who need to find their parents. So, what about constituting a file first and posters? Maybe her parents are looking for her and it would be easier if they find her, because we're kind of short on the staff right now."

"Oh… Yeah, I understand."

"I just need a photo of her, then I'll fill everything. You can do that in the room over there. But first of all, are you even sure her parents live in Republic City?"

"I didn't ask."

She looked at Isolina, who was looking at the two women with wide eyes.

"Isolina, sweetie, where do you parents live? Here, in Republic City? In another nation? Maybe in the Water Tribes… Your eyes are quite blue. But your skin is so pale…"

The girl only looked at her, dumfounded. Maybe with a map, then…

Asami found a map and asked Isolina to point out where her parents lived. She looked clueless. Okay… Maybe not a map either. Did she not know where she had been living before being separated from her parents?

Then, Asami got another idea.

"Isolina, what kind of animals was there where you lived?"

If she had lived in the Water Tribes, then she would talk about otter-penguins, polar-bear-dogs or something like that. The fauna in the other nations was a bit more alike, but each of them had their particularities.

"There was no animal," she answered with her little voice.

Surprised passed on Asami's face. No animal? How was that even possible? She then thought of another question:

"What was the weather like? Was it cold? hot?"

"I'm not sure… I didn't go much outside. My parents were afraid..."

"Afraid? Afraid of what?"

The girl looked at her feet, shutting herself out. She wouldn't talk anymore. It looked like she didn't like talking about her parents. Maybe it was too painful, and Asami could understand that.

"That's the most I can get," she announced to Lin.

The older woman sighed.

"Then, go take that picture."

That was what they did. They then got out, thanking Lin who grunted to have one more case on her hands.

The next thing they did was going shopping. Asami bought Isolina some clothes to wear—which fitted her perfectly this time—, as well as some toys so that she could play. It took them one hour and half.

Then, they went back to the mansion. It was almost seven in the afternoon, and Asami got a little surprised when she saw that Korra wasn't home yet. They tried to both be there at 6:30 p.m. It was a rule between them in order to be sure to see each other. They sometimes broke the rule, but they usually let the other know.

However, Korra didn't say anything, so it worried Asami a little. But then, she thought of all the times it happened in the past, when they were not even married, and it eased her a little. Korra must have forgotten, with Isolina showing up the day before. Or something important had gotten in the way.

Asami brushed those thoughts away. She had to take care of the girl. It was out of the question that she stayed as late as the night before!

So, Asami made her eat. Isolina asked why she wasn't eating with her, and she answered that she was waiting for Korra. Isolina asked why she wasn't home yet, and Asami had no answer.

She then made her prepare to go to bed. It turned out that the little girl was scared to be alone in her room, so Asami stayed with her for a bit.

She told her a little story, like her own mother had done with her when she was a child, and caressed the girl's hair. She was supposed to stay until she fell asleep. However, she stayed a bit longer, watching Isolina's sleeping, little, cute face. Eventually, she fell asleep beside her, while admiring the sleeping child.

* * *

Korra got back almost in the middle of the night. She didn't make any noise, wondering if Asami was asleep.

The young green-eyed woman hardly slept when she was worried, and Korra had no doubt she had been because of her unexpected absence.

She noticed two plates set up on the table and assumed Asami had been waiting for her. Then, why hadn't she come meet her when she had gotten back? And why was the house all silent? She went to their bedroom, and Asami was not here. It worried her a little and she chose to go through all the room in the mansion.

She entered the room Isolina was staying in, not quite remembering she was there. She got pretty surprised when she found Asami, asleep, beside the little girl.

She grinned at them. What a beautiful and moving sight. There were cute. Well, maybe she should go to sleep too and not wake them up. She'd meet Asami in the morning anyway.

She only covered the green-eyed woman with a light blanket to be sure she wouldn't be cold, kissed her pale forehead and went to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I'll be glad to hear your thoughts! Good there is this little box to leave a comment, huh? ;)
> 
> Just a thing, I left the "Miss Sato", even if it's not correct, on purpose, because... I can't imagine it another way xD So, yeah, sorry about that. And sorry for any other mistake that I made.
> 
> See you!
> 
> Lion


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra and Asami have an important talk, and a decision is made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone!
> 
> I wanted to post yesterday, but I was busy. So, here is the forth chapter. I hope you'll like it! It has less cute stuff in it, though. But it's only because there is going to be more in the next chapters ;)
> 
> Enjoy!

When Asami woke up, she was surprised not to be in her bed with her wife as she usually was. Instead of that, she saw the sleeping face of a little girl. She must have fallen asleep when she wasn't paying attention.

She slowly remembered how she ended up falling asleep there, but what she didn't remember was having a blanket over her.

She wondered for a few seconds how it had gotten there, and she then thought that Korra might have put it on her. Which would be good news because she would be back home and not hurt somewhere, bleeding and dying…

Asami shook her head. She really should stop thinking this way. But she couldn't help feeling worried for the young Avatar.

So, she felt the need to get up and find her, leaving Isolina alone.

Their bedroom was certainly her better option: Korra was not known for liking early mornings. So, she headed that way, closing calmly the door when she left Isolina's bedroom.

However, she never reached her destination. She barely turned around that she got seized with two strong arms, a light scream escaping her mouth.

But then, she felt a body against her back and a nose against her neck, which could only be Korra's.

"You scared me," she said as if she wanted to scold her but being too soft and sweet for that.

"Yeah, I heard that," Korra giggled.

Asami rolled her eyes before turning to face her, putting her arms around her neck.

"You came back late last night. I was worried."

"I'm sorry. Something came up. I tried to escape, but it sounds like responsibilities beat me."

Asami smiled. She then kissed her wife, relieved.

"I'm just happy nothing happened to you."

Korra kissed her again. After a few seconds they parted.

"Want to eat something?" the blue-eyed Avatar asked. "I hardly had the time to eat something and I think you waited for me yesterday."

The green-eyed woman nodded.

"I'm actually starving. What time is it?"

"Only five."

"And you're awake?" Asami smirked, astonished.

"Well, you weren't in bed with me. It was really weird. I think I'm too used to having you sleeping with me."

The other woman only hummed lightly and they walked to the kitchen hand in hand.

While they were preparing food for breakfast, the CEO asked, a bit concerned:

"Shouldn't we wait for Isolina? The poor girl's going to eat alone."

"Well, you said you're starving and I am too... I don't know about you but I don't really want to wait. We'll stay with her when she'll have breakfast. I sure it won't bother. I mean, it's not like she really wants to be with us..."

"I think she does," Asami answered, thoughtful. "She's still shy, that's all."

Korra shrugged. After all, she didn't know the girl as well as Asami did. She spent the whole day with her and she rescued her.

They started eating in a comfortable silence.

"Thinking about it, how was work with her?" Korra asked, curious, while eating her breakfast.

"It was..." Asami started, thinking about it made a small smile capture her lips, "refreshing."

"Refreshing?" Korra raised her eyebrow. "How so?"

"It's just, you know, new. I'm usually alone in my office and meetings are with some grumpy, old guys, so it was nice having her there. She actually got me distracted with her sweetness."

Asami was grinning really hard while saying that, and Korra stared at her with curious and amused eyes. She felt a little smile climbing onto her own lips.

"I'm glad you're having fun," she said softy.

"Yeah... She's a lot of fun. I think I'm going to miss her when she leaves. Even if it will only be her staying for a few days."

A veil of sadness landed on the green-eyes, and even if a soft smile remained on the pale-skinned face, there was no doubt that the anticipation of the separation with Isolina caused her a painful apprehension.

Korra stared at her with her beautiful, blue eyes. She stared at this troubled and sad expression she wasn't excepting to see on her lover's face.

She thought about how worried she was for the child, how much she cared for her, how softness was radiating from her whenever the young girl was around, how hard she was willing to try even if it was only for a few days.

She remembered last night, when she found them both asleep, and the serenity in which the place was thrown.

She remembered Asami's expression, from this moment when she had seen her frozen, asleep, a small smile curling the corners of her lips, her hand still intertwined with the girl's black hair, her head turned toward her as if she was watching her while sleeping. She could easily imagine seeing this hundreds of times.

Korra stared at her wife, and suddenly noticed how having a child around could change her. Noting this, she told herself she never thought about it. She never thought about how their couple would be if they were to raise a child. But did Asami want a child? She was maybe very caring to Isolina, but that was only temporary. Yet, this temporary state seemed to hurt her quite a bit.

"Did you want children?" Korra asked.

The question was asked out of the blue for Asami, and she needed to blink a few times to be sure she understood right. Immediately, she went on the defensive.

"Why are you asking me that?" Asami retorted.

"I don't know. You sound happy with her, so I thought that was maybe what you wanted. We never really talked about it."

"There is not much to talk about," Asami shrugged nonchalantly, throwing a piece of bread into her mouth.

"Then why don't you start by answering my question?"

"I did," she answered a bit shortly. "When I was younger. But it's not a good idea anymore."

"Why that?"

"Korra, don't be silly."

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are."

Korra was lost. She didn't understand why Asami was acting so distant.

They could have kept going with their "yes, you are" and "no, I am not", but that wasn't going to lead them anywhere. So, she rather tried to understand her wife:

"Then, why am I?"

"Because the situation being what it is, we can't have a child home," she answered simply. "Well, except for a few days, apparently."

"What situation are you talking about? We're a great couple! We totally could raise a child!"

"Yeah, sure. It's not as if you were the Avatar and I were a CEO. We're not busy at all!"

"Wait, that's your excuse?" Korra said, blinking.

"Of course it is!"

"You're the one being silly," the blue-eyes woman calmly answered, drinking a bit of water.

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are."

Asami simply rolled her eyes.

"We're not starting this again," she said, finishing her breakfast and taking her things to go away.

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere!" Korra continued, grasping her arm.

"Korra, it's too early to have that conversation," she answered, without facing her, as if she were suddenly downcast and without any energy left. "Plus, I don't want to."

"You're the early bird here. So, I'm the one who should be protesting. And I do want to have that conversation with you. We're married and we've never had it!"

"Because there is nothing to say."

"Why would you give up on something which could make you happy?"

"Because it's for the best, Korra. I love you, I really do. And I think that raising a family with you would be something amazing. But we both know that we're not always home, sometimes we barely see each other! How would that be for children?"

"We can change that! We have the right to have a personal life too."

"No, we can't. Look at Aang! Remember how Bumi, Kya and Tenzin felt, even years after?"

"It's not because one Avatar was not the best of parents that we all are..." Korra explained, a bit bitterly.

"I'm..."

Asami stopped and winced. She didn't want to upset Korra. It was not the purpose at all! Why were they talking about that really? Asami had made up her mind years ago. Couldn't Korra see that this was hopeless?

She only sighed, pulling Korra into a hug.

"I'm sorry, honey. It's not what I meant. I'm sure you would be a great mother."

The blue-eyed woman pulled away to look her wife in the eyes.

"Then why are you so stubborn about pushing all our chances away?"

"I'm not," she denied, though she knew it was what she was doing.

Korra gave her a skeptical look.

"I am not!" she repeated to be more convincing. "I'm just... Korra, that's complicated."

"Explain it to me then. I know that I don't have your brain, but I can understand some things."

"Your brain is just fine the way it is."

Korra just stared at her with a look that said: "you're not changing the conversation." So, Asami sighed. She sat in a chair and tried to explain her point of view:

"Remember when we started dating?"

"Yes. One of the most amazing things that happened to me, why?"

"Our relationship is one of the things I cherish the most in the world. You're the most important person to me, and nothing can change that. But Korra, how many times did we almost lose each other? I almost lost you with Zaheer. You almost lost me when I was abducted to put pressure on you. We live dangerous lives, Korra. And you're strong, you're powerful, and I can handle myself, but... a child would be defenseless. Even if we are less busy and can take care of them, it's still not a normal life, because no one knows what could happen, when new crazy people are going to erupt in our house. Do you really want to live with this kind of culpability if something would ever happen?"

"Why would something happen? We could also live a happy life without any problem. We would protect them."

"You're too optimistic," Asami said, shaking her head with a shuddering breath.

"And you're too pessimistic," Korra said before taking the green-eyed woman's pale hand and squeezing it once. "We always find a way through. Always. Why would it be different this time?"

"I don't know, Korra. I just don't want to put anyone life in danger, and I'm not even sure we could handle raising a child. I know you're willing, but still..."

The Avatar opened her mouth to respond, but Asami just cut the conversation off:

"Anyway, let's take care of Isolina for now. We can discuss again that when she gets back to her parents."

She didn't intend to, though. Korra sighed, letting Asami's hand go, because she knew she would not get anything out of her now.

"I'm not giving up, you know. I just want you to be happy."

The green eyes softened a little, looking at the beautiful and caring Avatar. Asami reached for the dark-skinned face, brushing her thumb against her cheek before placing one strand of brown hair affectionately being her ear.

"I'm happy with you, and that's enough," she said with a little smile.

Part of that was true, Korra knew it. But she still thought that it could be different, another kind of happiness could fill their life. However, she shut this little voice inside of her up for now, because she knew it wasn't time anymore.

"I love you," she answered quietly.

And Asami grinned.

Yes, that was enough for now, their happiness. Even if the arrival of Isolina would certainly change that, and that was why Korra was so eager to bring up this conversation.

But the two women decided not to think about it anymore, and they just kissed lovingly.

* * *

Eventually, the CEO was ready to go to work a bit before 6 in the morning. And she would have gone if she didn't have to take care of Isolina. So, she thought she'd just wait. But waiting was long.

Korra on the other hand decided that it was too soon to do anything besides sleeping. And since she knew she needed Asami to sleep (or at least, she preferred when she was there), she just made the CEO go to their room until they were in their bed. Then, the blue-eyed woman cuddled in her wife's arms.

They eventually both fell asleep for another hour or so.

When they got up again, Asami went to wake Isolina up. She gently brushed her shoulder. The girl simply opened her eyes and smiled at her, making Asami melt. She managed a smile of her own and took her to the kitchen, where she served her and just watched her eating.

Korra joined them a few minutes later, because she hadn't wanted to leave the warmth of the bed, smiling when she saw Asami looking at Isolina with loving eyes.

Yeah, she definitely would love to see her like that more often. Not that Asami didn't look at her with loving eyes, but the scenery with Isolina was just cute.

The little girl certainly didn't even notice the effect she had on Asami, but Korra just felt her being happier.

However, the breakfast was silent. Isolina was still not really comfortable and was looking only at her plate.

At least, she now felt free to deliver some short sentences, like "yes", "no", "thank you", while she would barely nod when she had first gotten there.

When the little girl finished, Asami told her to go do what she needed before leaving and cleared the table.

When all of that was finished, Korra just pulled Asami into a light embrace, kissing her and saying that she was going to go. She wished her a good day, that she returned, and went to the garden to call Naga.

A few minutes later, the Avatar had left and Isolina met Asami.

"You ready?" the young woman asked.

Isolina nodded. But the CEO saw her distracted look and wondered what she was thinking.

"Is there something wrong?" she worried a little.

"What was that big animal Korra rides on?" the little girl asked, with her curious, high ton of voice.

"Oh, you mean Naga? It's a polar-bear-dog. She's Korra's best friend."

"You mean her best friend is an animal?"

"Yeah... Well, she has me as her best human friend."

"You're friends now?"

"We've always been. At least, most of the time," she added, thinking of the beginning of their friendship. "You know, it's not because she's my wife than we can't be friends too. She was my best friend before that, and she always is."

"I've never thought like that... Do you think my parents were friends too?"

"I don't know, sweetheart. But I'm sure they love each other a lot. And that they love you just as much."

The young girl shrugged as if she didn't care. But her eyes were filled with sadness, and Asami didn't understand what she did wrong. Maybe she should be more careful about what she said. Her parents certainly were a difficult topic.

However, she didn't discuss the matter further, and they got to work. Well, actually work with distraction for Asami, and distraction with amusement for Isolina. The latter had still her little desk and her things, and was eager to go back to what she had been doing the day before.

Asami though wondered if they could continue that way for long. But then she remembered that she only had Isolina for a few days. What if it lasted longer? What should she do with her?

This morning, Asami got through all her responsibilities wondering if she could take some days off. She really wanted to take care of Isolina, maybe searching for her parents a bit more. And she couldn't do that from work. Not really. And in a really selfish purpose, she just wanted to enjoy the little girl's presence while she could.

It was with this idea in mind that she got out of her office, telling Isolina to stay in it, to talk to her assistant.

"Hey," she said to interrupt him.

"Yes, Miss Sato?"

"I just wondered if you would feel alright if I took some days off. I know that's a lot more pressure on you, it's just that with Isolina home..."

"Don't say anything else! Of course, I would really happy to take care of the business here! Especially if you start taking care of yourself."

"I am already taking care of myself. It's just for the girl. I'm not sure that's the right place for her."

"Taking care of her makes you happy. So, it makes me happy to take care of the work when you're not here!"

"Ok... Thanks then."

She got back in her office. Actually, she thought it would be a little more complicated. But then, she felt she was just being silly. Her assistant had already told her so many times to stop working that much and to take a few days off. So, of course, he would be more than willing to help.

She simply shook her head with a little sigh. Isolina saw that and asked with curious eyes:

"Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all," Asami smiled gently. "How about we spend some time together for the next few days? I assumed that you would rather not be at work with me, so I won't go to work for a few days. Does that make you happy?"

"Yes, very much so. But isn't it going to be a problem? I don't want to bother you..."

"Oh no, sweetie, don't worry. I just want to do whatever I can to make you comfortable for the time you spend with Korra and me."

"Then, I'm happy."

"Great. So, just this day, and then we'll do... whatever you want."

The girl nodded and went back to her drawing. She didn't sound nor look really thrilled. However, Asami believed her when she had said she was happy. She sometimes just wasn't really expressive. But it was as if it weren't the only reason, as if there were something that was hovering over her. A shadow, sadness, a too-heavy past? Asami didn't know.

Maybe she could learn more about her in the next few days. Maybe she could find her parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I'll be glad to hear your thoughts. Hopefully, you're still not bored to death x) I'd like to skip the usual stuff, like daily life and all, but... I feel it wouldn't fit. But the more there are chapters, the less there are things like that, I think.
> 
> Anyway, leave kudos if you feel like it, it's good to know if the story is liked or not. 
> 
> See you!
> 
> Lion


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day in Republic City, and a bit of Korra bonding with Isolina, while we learn a bit more about the girl.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> Sorry, I'm posting a bit late. So, this chapter was actually one that I split into two, because it was starting to get long.
> 
> Also, I only reread it once, so it might have more mistakes than usual. I'll try to go through it somewhere along the week, when I'll have some time. (But since I'm trying to be punctual, I can't really do it right now ;))
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

When Asami told Korra she took a few days off, the Avatar got quite surprised. It was both stunning and frustrating. At least, she was happy that Asami and Isolina would be able to spend some time together. However, she was a bit sad not to be able to be part of this special time.

That was why she tried, as much as she could, to get home early for the next few days.

Asami let Isolina sleep in the morning, and it looked like the girl needed it. Since the young woman was up before her, she worked a little bit and took care of the mansion.

When the little girl woke up, they would breakfast together quietly.

Asami sometimes asked what Isolina wanted to do for the day and she never got a precise answer, because the little girl didn't have any idea of what to do.

So, the first day, Asami decided to make her visit the city. She actually wanted to know if she recognized anything. However, from the curious and admiring look on Isolina's face, she easily assumed that Republic City was perfectly unknown to her. Maybe her parents didn't even live here... But how did she end up in the triad's territory?

The young CEO had still so many questions about this girl, but she was just too afraid of asking her about them. What if she were not ready to answer? It could blow away all her chances of getting answers someday, of solving her mystery, of getting her back on the way of her life.

Asami just sighed. It was not going to be easy. She had to find her story bit by bit, like a hazardous investigation, a puzzle with the pieces spread throughout the four Nations.

At lunch, they grabbed something in the street. After that, Asami continued to go through Republic City, until the little girl started to be tired. Then, she decided to get back to the mansion.

Isolina went to bed to take a nap; Asami sometimes forgot she was only five.

Less than thirty minutes later, while Isolina was still sleeping, Korra came back.

"I wasn't expecting you to get back this early," Asami said while walking to her wife.

"You're taking a few days off, so I may as well try to get back earlier. Is that a problem?" she asked, before kissing her lightly.

"Not at all," Asami smiled.

"Where is Isolina? You got rid of her and needed a few days to bury her body somewhere no one could find it?"

The CEO chuckled.

"No, she's just taking a nap. I sometimes forget that she gets tired faster than a grown-up."

"What did you do today?"

"Basically, visiting Republic City. And she's _really_ not from here. I wonder what's happened to her..."

"Why don't you ask her?"

"I don't want to scare her away! She has that sad face whenever she talks about her past... Do you think I should try harder?"

"Start by easy things. I'm sure that she will answer if you use your motherly tone."

"What motherly tone? I don't have a motherly tone!"

Korra chucked.

"You have. It's the one you use with children only. You just become so soft, it's almost unbelievable."

"Right..." Asami groaned.

"You're frustrated because you're good with children? I've known worse!" Korra sarcastically laughed.

"I'm frustrated because I know what you're trying to do, and it won't work," the green-eyed woman got defensive.

"I'm not trying to do anything. Just saying the truth."

She then cupped the CEO's cheeks, luring her so that she looked her in the eyes.

"If someone can get the girl to talk, it's you."

Their forehead met and both women breathed deeply, closing their eyes.

"You're so sure about that, and I just don't know how to handle it," the green-eyed woman almost whispered.

"You'll figure something out."

"Why don't you try?"

"She doesn't know me. I'm just some stranger living in the same house to her. But she trusts you."

"You should try to bond with her more."

"What's the point? She's only here until we find her parents."

"Yes, but... it may be good for her?" she justified with a sad and hesitant voice.

"Are you sure it's the true reason?"

"Mmm…"

"Asami…" the blue-eyed woman scolded, groaning.

The green-eyed woman unveiled her green emeralds to see two blue pearls, which were trying to piece her with a fierce determination.

"What?" she questioned.

"Wouldn't it be because you imagine that if I get well along with her, she could stay, and I would accept her too."

"What? No! Of course not!"

She closed her eyes again, sighed, melting further into the embrace.

"… It would be stupid," she started again quietly, but she knew that her heart told her otherwise.

She knew that Korra was right, but she preferred denying it. Of course, the blue-eyed Avatar was not fooled by it. She held the CEO close in her arms, like an unrequired—but necessary—comfort.

"I only want her to be happy," she added. "And she will be once we find her parents. I just have not to get attached by then."

"I think it's too late for that, my love."

"I know. Maybe you're right... Maybe we need to have that talk about children."

"I'm certain of it. Whenever you're ready, okay? But for now, why don't you just take care of that little girl to see how you handle it?"

"Okay... I'm going to see her."

"Good luck," Korra said with a peck on her lips.

Asami smiled and went to Isolina's room.

She carefully opened the door to see the young girl still asleep. She hesitated before entering, pursing her lips.

She wanted to try to question the girl. Maybe it was too soon. However, she didn't want to wake her up. But she thought that Isolina might not sleep very well during the night if she slept too much during her nap. So, maybe it wouldn't be that bad to wake her up.

She got closer to the bed, sitting lightly on the side. She just watched the peaceful, sleeping body. She wanted to stop the time, let herself being softened and warmed up by this light and calm atmosphere.

She couldn't interrupt that. She could not interrupt the perfect sleep of this beautiful child.

She wished Isolina always looked at peace and not battling with some troubling past.

She wished she had never met her erring, completely lost, disoriented and depressed.

She wished she had never been separated from her parents.

She wished she had remained in this world full of pure and fragile innocence, where happiness reigned.

The young woman couldn't help herself but run a shy hand through the girl's black hair. She didn't think it might wake her up. Actually, she didn't think at all, too caught into the moment.

However, the girl started moving a little, before opening her stunning blue eyes.

"I'm sorry," Asami apologized with all the softness in the world, continuing caressing her hair. "Did I wake you up?"

"It's okay," the girl smiled.

The young woman gave her a smile of her own. Nothing happened for a few seconds, while Isolina was enjoying the light touch. Then, she got up on her tiny limbs and went to Asami in order to hug her.

The CEO was starting to get used to these. So, she held her close and tight.

She liked it. She liked how she was important for Isolina, how the girl would willingly come to her to seek for a comforting embrace.

When they parted, they simply smiled to each other. They didn't really need words, as if affection was enough.

Then, Asami remembered what she came here for. But she didn't want to. She didn't want to make Isolina remember when she knew she wasn't thinking about it right now; that she was fine.

But hesitation must have appeared on her face, because Isolina furrowed her brow, asking:

"Something wrong?"

Asami broke out of her thoughts, noticing Isolina's worried face. She smiled then, brushing her cheek with one hand.

"No everything is fine, sweetie," she assured her. "Leave me some room on your bed?"

The girl nodded and moved a little in order for Asami to settle beside her.

"Do you want to tell me a bit about you?"

"What do you want to know?" the girl reluctantly asked, lowering her head.

"Only what you're willing to tell me."

She put her hand underneath the girl's chin, making her face her.

"Listen, I don't want you to tell me things that make you uncomfortable. I understand that you certainly went through a lot, and it's okay if you're not ready. I just want to know more about you. Do you think it's okay?"

The girl nodded. When Asami let go her head, she didn't lower it right away, but it eventually happened. An uncomfortable silence engulfed them. The young woman understood that if she wanted to learn anything she'd have to ask.

"Come," she demanded.

She took the little girl in her lap, playing with her hair for a few seconds. She sensed her relaxing a little.

"So… what are your parents' names?" she began asking, thinking it would be the easiest.

"Why do you need to know?"

That question again...

"It will help me find them," she answered with honesty

"You'll never find them," Isolina answered somberly.

Why? Asami wanted to ask. But she prevented herself from doing so. One question at a time, she remained herself.

"I want to try," she said.

The girl nodded.

"Daisuke for my father. Hae for my mother."

"Ok..."

Asami didn't really know what to ask. Which subject was sensitive to her? Which one was not? Then, she thought she had to make sure of something before trying to find the girl's parents.

"Isolina, sweetie, were you happy with your parents?" she asked, suddenly aware of the girl non-eagerness to find them.

"Most of the time."

"What was wrong?"

"I couldn't get out of the house."

"Why?"

"They said it was dangerous."

"Well, they are right. The world is a dangerous place for a little girl. But still... you have to see other people. Do you have any friends?"

"I've never met someone my age."

At that, Asami was completely astonished. What kind of life had she lived before? Why did she have the feeling that that life was completely disconnected from any kind of normality?

"What... what do you mean? Have you ever met someone beside your parents?"

"No."

That was weird. Maybe too weird. So, in brief, this little girl had lived somewhere in the middle of nowhere and without anyone beside two now-missing parents.

"They were right," Isolina added, with an emotionless tone.

"About what?"

"I was safe in the house. People outside are mean."

The green-eyed woman knew that the little girl was referring to her time being alone and, if Asami had to guess, under the orders of heartless adults.

"Not all people are," Asami said.

"I know," she admitted, turning around. "You're not."

The young adult smiled.

"No, I'm not. And I won't ever do anything to hurt you, I promise."

She cupped Isolina's cheek, seeing her two light blue eyes lit up and a wide grin plastered on her face.

"I love you," the girl let out, the words not sounding quite innocent and childish like she certainly meant, but rather heavy and serious in Asami's ears.

However, she only hugged the young child before answering:

"Oh, I love you too, sweetie."

"Then, why do you want to find my parents?" she asked, looking a bit confused as she looked at Asami's face.

Actually, the young woman didn't understand the question, or why it had been asked.

The more she talked with Isolina, the more she thought something was off about her parents. She didn't know what it was, but the girl was acting really weird about it.

"Because you would be happy with them, wouldn't you?" she simply answered, hoping that the answer would be good enough.

Also because she needed her to be out of her life the fastest possible, in order not to be inconsolable when she left, in order not to reanimate a desire which she had abandoned long ago. But she could definitely not say that.

Isolina nodded, emotionless.

"I understand," she said, as if they were discussing a matter of life or death.

"Isolina," Asami started, frowning, "are you... Is there something _really_ important you're hiding from me?"

The girl turned around, sitting again on Asami's lap.

"Can you braid my hair?" she commanded, going off the topic.

Well, that was unexpected...

At least, Asami learnt something: there really was something the girl didn't want to talk about, something important she was not ready to let go for now.

So, since she knew she wouldn't get anything else from her for now, she only answered the question.

"You'd like that?" she asked, going through the back hair.

"I'd love so."

"Well, then, I can braid your hair. You have beautiful hair, you know."

"My mother had the same."

"Really? Well, then you're really lucky to have inherited her, especially with your eyes."

"That's more from my dad's side."

"I guess, you picked only the good things from both sides to be the beautiful little girl you are."

"Thanks."

They then fell into a nice silence. Asami braided Isolina's hair, delicately, leaving them purposely loose not to hurt the girl by pulling her hair too hard.

It made her think of her long-dead mother and how she would do the exact same thing. It was so long ago... And she never thought she would have the opportunity of doing that, that she would braid anyone's hair beside Korra's, that she would braid a young girl's hair as if she were her daughter.

By the time she finished, she had a stern look on her face. When Isolina faced her to thank her, she noticed it and got a little confused.

"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned.

"Nothing is wrong, sweetie."

"You look like something is wrong. Did I do something? It's because I didn't answer your question, right?"

"No, it's not you, sweetie. It's not you, I swear."

"What is it?"

"It's... It's my mother. She died when I was really young, and sometimes she would braid my hair the way I just did. You made me think of her that's all."

"Are you sad?"

"To be honest, yes, I'm kind of sad. But it was a long time ago."

The girl nodded.

"Do you want a hug? I know I'd like one."

Asami chucked a little bit.

"Yes, I do want a hug if you're giving it to me."

The young girl didn't even have a second thought and put her little hands around Asami's neck. The young adult only put a hand on her back, sighing.

"I wish you never got separated from your parents."

"Me too... But I'm happy with you now."

"You are?" Asami asked, between a striking surprise and a funny satisfaction in the inside.

"I am."

"Well, I'm happy too then."

They enjoyed each other's presence for a little while longer. Then, Asami and Isolina went downstairs.

The young CEO said she had some phone calls to make, and brought Isolina to Korra, who was playing with Naga. The girl stared at the giant, white animal, a bit afraid of it.

"Could you take care of her for a moment? I have to make some phone calls. It won't be long."

"Sure," the Avatar answered.

"Is it okay with you, Isolina?"

The girl only stared at the white-furred animal with wide eyes and her body completely paralyzed with fear. Seeing her awe, Asami kneeled down.

"Hey, look at me," Asami ordered.

The girl obliged.

"It's only Naga. She's really sweet and she only bites really mean people when they try to hurt us. She has never hurt anybody else, and she's not going to hurt you. Okay?"

The girl nodded, still a bit unsure. Asami put a strand of black hair behind the girl's ear, kissing her on her forehead.

"Nothing will ever happen to you under my care or Korra's, understood?"

To answer, the girl gave a quick hug to Asami who grinned brightly.

"I think you should introduce Naga, honey," she said standing up and meeting Korra. "Go easy on her."

"Don't worry," the Avatar answered.

Asami gave her a stern look, to make sure she was taking her warnings seriously. Korra only chuckled, and kissed Asami on the nose.

"Yes, I'll take care of her, as if my life depended on it. Which is probably the case, because you would kill me if anything happened to her," she stated with a smirk.

Asami rolled her eyes, and pinched Korra's biceps, earning an "ouch!" from her. The green-eyed woman sadistically smiled.

"Have fun," she answered, waving, before going away.

"So..." Korra started, rubbing her arm where Asami pinched her. She looked at Naga, —who was sitting with her tongue hanging out, —and Isolina, —who had a curious but scared look on her face, —before putting her hands on her hips. "Naga, this is Isolina, and she's going to stay with us a little bit," Korra introduced. "Isolina, this is Naga, my best animal friend."

"Okay..." the little girl shyly said.

"Naga, say hello."

The giant animal approached Isolina, who couldn't help but back up. She tripped and fell, putting her hand in front of her face to protect herself. She closed her eyes, too afraid to see what the polar-bear-dog was going to do.

She trusted Asami but _still_ ; that thing was enormous!

She only sensed the big animal's nose sniffing her hand, and a big, wet thing running through her hand and part of her arm.

When she opened her eyes again, she only saw that Naga was actually licking her hand. She barked lightly, and Isolina looked at the animal's eyes; they were only soft and friendly. Isolina smiled, understanding that Naga was only a giant, fluffy pet.

The polar-bear-dog nuzzled her and Isolina laughed. She used the big, white head to get up. When it was done, Naga rolled over on her back, asking for her to pet her.

The little girl ran hesitantly her tiny hands through the white fur, still not really sure how the animal would react.

"She likes you," Korra said, coming close and starting to pet Naga too. "Have you ever had a pet before?"

The girl shook her head. No, her parents hadn't had allowed any pet.

"Well, then consider that Naga is your first animal friend!"

Naga was actually really excited to meet the young girl. She got back on her legs, and started jumping a bit around her, rubbing her giant body against hers, in an improvised hug. Isolina smiled and chuckled.

Suddenly, Korra was on Naga and the girl stared at the two of them.

"Want a ride?" the Avatar asked.

Not really sure, the girl shook her head.

"You know, Asami is not going to mind. Actually, I think she would be happy if we spend some time together. We're not going far. The yard is big enough. Come on."

"I can't come up there. I'm not tall enough."

"Ah right. But I can help you."

She extended her hands for Isolina to take. Even if dubiety was written all over the young girl face, she took her hands. Korra just pulled her toward herself, moving lightly to make her land softy thanks to her airbending.

The girl was surprised by how slowly and delicately she landed on the animal, soon protected by Korra's arms around her.

"You okay?" the blue-eyed Avatar asked.

The girl nodded.

"It was airbending, right?"

"Yep! Let's go, Naga. Easy, girl."

The polar-bear-dog obliged, even if she would rather run through the yard.

Korra kept a hand on Isolina's stomach to make sure the girl wouldn't fall. The latter didn't mind, looking at the scenery from her high spot.

"Do you like it?" Korra asked.

The girl vigorously nodded, her wide, blue eyes wandering around as if everything were bright new and extraordinarily.

"Wanna go faster?"

"I don't know. Is it scary?"

"No, it's fun. Don't worry, I'm holding onto you."

The girl seriously nodded, allowing Korra to go faster. The Avatar brightly grinned.

"Okay, Naga, you can go. Go, girl, go!"

The polar-bear-dog did as it was ordered, her tongue hanging out and going faster and faster.

Even if Isolina was a bit afraid at first, she was also really amazed by the experience. The fact that Korra held her tighter, to make sure she was safe, eased her a little and she just relaxed.

After a few seconds, she was grinning harder than she ever had, enjoying the ride. Korra smiled too, seeing the little girl's bright face.

She understood now why Asami liked the girl so much; Korra enjoyed her presence as well. Playing with her, bringing her a smile, a laugh, a moment of joy, was an unrivaled feeling.

As the Avatar, she was used to saving people, to them being more roles grateful, but Isolina, this young child, was something else. It was something different, but she liked it.

And it was not hard to imagine that things could always remain this way.

* * *

"Lin Beifong."

"Hi, Lin, it's Asami."

"Miss Sato. Why are you calling? Is there a problem?"

"I just... I wanted to know if you had any news from Isolina's parents."

"No. Nothing. No one called for the girl."

Asami sighed. She was hoping that this was going to end fast. Apparently not.

"Okay... Well, I have some more information," she continued.

"I'm listening."

"Her parents' names are Dasuke and Hae. Her mother has black hair and her father is certainly for the Water Tribes, judging from his eyes' color. They lived in a really secluded place. And that's pretty all I know."

"Okay, it's noted."

"Do you think you can find them soon?"

"Do you want to get rid of the girl or what?"

"No, it's not that..."

"You decided that finally you don't like her?"

"No, it's wrong! I like her! But I... I... have a business to run."

"Right. You should improve at lying, Miss Sato. I can even know you're doing it without seeing you. Anyway, I do have work, so I'm not going to try to make you say what you obviously don't want to say. Bye."

And she hung up.

"Bye," Asami sighed, even if she knew that the older woman didn't hear her.

She tried not to think, making her second phone call.

"Hi, Lu, it's Asami," she said, once she got an answer after a few ringtones.

"Hi, Miss the CEO! How are you? Everything's fine on your little holidays?"

"Yeah, yeah. How is everything at work?"

"Perfectly fine, boss."

"You're not lying to me, right? To make me comfortable, right?"

"Of course not! I have to say, you did a great job. It's almost as if the company could run itself on its own. You really should take holidays more often!"

"Thanks, Lu. I love feeling welcomed and needed in my own company," she teased.

"Oh, come on! Don't take it this way!"

"I'm just saying. But it's great if everything is fine. You can call me whenever you need me, you know."

"Yes, I know. Now, stop talking about business and go enjoying yourself! See ya!"

"Bye, Lu."

She hung up, hearing her assistant smiling and chuckling. She rolled her eyes. At least, this was fine. She could stay with Isolina without any problem. But how long is it going to last? How long before she went away from her, taking a part of her heart? The longer it would take, the bigger this part would be.

Asami sighed. Maybe she shouldn't care about that, and just enjoy the day, until she would eventually fall—definitely fall—from her little peaceful cloud.

She started going back to where she had left Isolina and Korra. On her way there, she heard laughters and, when they came in sight, she saw Isolina the happiest she had ever seen her, riding on Naga's back with Korra who was smiling and laughing along with her.

It looked like her wife was succumbing to the girl's charms too. The CEO smiled. If she didn't know what situation they were in, she could certainly think that they were a great family.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! You can leave me kudos, comments, I'll be happy! If not, I hope to see you in another chapter!
> 
> Lion


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just an evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone!
> 
> Here is a chapter a bit shorter than the others. Don't worry, the next ones are longer ;)
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

In the evening, they ate and played a bit more, until it was time for Isolina to go to bed. The girl still didn't want to sleep alone, feeling a bit febrile in her new environment.

So, Asami stayed with her a little bit, telling her a story until she was sleepy. Only then, she thought it was time for her to go.

However, Isolina was not quite asleep and she suspected that the young woman was about to leave. If she left, it would reawaken inside of the girl a feeling of insecurity, which would push her into waking up, without a chance of falling back to sleep, after a few minutes, or, at the most, a few hours.

At this moment, Korra decided to enter the room with Naga.

"What are you doing?" Asami asked, quite confused.

Years ago, Korra and she had decided that Naga was better outside, at least when the weather was nice enough.

The thing is Naga could be a little uncomfortable in little, closed spaces. And when she was inside, she would come to Korra to sleep, and the room was not that big with a polar-bear-dog in it. Plus, they kind of didn't like to be stared at when they did some... adult things. They really didn't like that.

So, it was a surprise to see Naga inside, and, more so, in Isolina's room.

Korra ignored Asami, judging unnecessary to answer. She only went to Isolina.

"Hey. Are you still afraid of Naga?" the Avatar asked.

Asami looked at her with a skeptical look saying: "do we really need to have that conversation right now?" It was time to sleep, for Isolina at the least: what was the point of talking about Naga? They could do that the next day!

Nevertheless, the little girl responded, shaking her head.

"You trust her, right?" Korra continued.

The girl nodded.

"Cool! Because I thought that maybe you would like to have someone with you. And Naga will protect you while you're sleeping. Do you think that would make you more comfortable?"

The girl smiled with a grateful and enthusiastic smile.

"Thank you," she said. "I'd love to have Naga with me."

"You're welcome. That way you'll be our little puppy! Right, Naga?"

She turned to the polar-bear-dog, who agreed with a bark, and shook her tail. She had her tongue hanging and her eyes sparkling. Korra proudly smiled, when looking at her animal friend.

As for Asami, she was rather jaded.

"She's not a dog, Korra," the green-eyed woman sighed, putting a pale hand on her forehead.

Korra turned to her, tilting her head to the side.

"Well, you sometimes call me 'honey' and I'm not edible," the Avatar rationalized, ready to celebrate the victory of her logic against the CEO's (which was normally impossible to vanquish).

At this moment, a gleam of mischief lit up in the green eyes, a smile appearing on the pale-skinned face.

"That is, actually, rather debatable," Asami answered, mischievously.

Their little debate could have continued for a long time—Korra had even opened her mouth to respond—, if Isolina weren't staring at them with her childish curiosity, trying to understand the subtlety of what had just been said.

Korra saw the young, blue-eyed girl in the corner of her eyes, looking her up and down, as she was wondering whether an Avatar could be eaten or not. (She didn't know very much about Avatars.) The said Avatar only cleared her throat.

"Anyway," she simply answered.

Isolina simply stared at her. Naga chose this moment to settle down close to the little girl's bed, ready to fall asleep.

Korra thought it was time to go, in order for the young girl to sleep. She leant to kiss Isolina on her forehead, with a tenderness, which was a little brutal and clumsy.

"Good night, little puppy," she said, with frivolity. "See you tomorrow."

The girl smiled, following Korra with her eyes, while she was exiting the room. The blue-eyed woman stopped by Asami, leaning to talk in her ear:

"You'll get what's coming to you."

"Yeah, right," Asami teased, a bit mockingly.

"Oh, sure, I'm right."

She then left, not leaving her enough time to answer.

Asami shook her head, smiling. Korra was sometimes incorrigible.

She then went to kiss Isolina too, wishing her a good night, caressing a little more her hair until the girl closed her eyes under her touch. After that, she left, allowing a last caress to Naga, who was already loudly sleeping.

She closed the door behind her, leaving a little gap so that if Naga could go out, if she wanted to.

She then entered her own room, she closed the door, to notice that it was, at first sight, empty.

She frowned, opening her mouth to call Korra, but nothing came out of it as, suddenly, lips were glued against hers, a tongue pushing against hers.

Here she was...

The Avatar had pushed Asami against the wall, pinning her left hand to it but letting the other one running through her hair, pulling her closer.

"Told you," Korra said, once they parted, breathless. "You should have not said that in Isolina's room..."

She kissed her again, her hands going to Asami's hips to bring their bodies closer as if they were only one. The green-eyed woman had her arms around her neck, returning the kiss with ardor.

But then, the dark-skinned hands started to take off their clothes, and Asami withdrew.

"Wait," she warned. "We can't do that."

"What? Why?" Korra asked, surprised and a bit irritated.

"Isolina is barely asleep, she could hear us."

"Well, her parents certainly had sex too..."

"Yes... But I doubt she knows that."

Korra grunted out of frustration, defeated by the businesswoman's arguments.

"Plus, you know very well how Naga reacted the few times we had her inside," continued the CEO.

Indeed, it was true that the polar-bear-dog could bark and bay, she could even paw the door, whining. They had never managed to understand this extreme reaction from Naga, so they decided not to expose her anymore to this kind of things, even from afar. And even if they could generally remain discreet, the polar bear-dog always managed to know and to make a phenomenal commotion.

"She would definitely wake Isolina," the green-eyed woman resumed, "and she is going to wonder what's going on, maybe even panic a lot, and, eventually, come here."

"I guess you're right," Korra sighed. "But what if I really want you?"

The blue-eyed woman got closer to the pale face, intending to kiss her again.

"You'll have to be patient," Asami answered playfully with a peck on her lips.

"I hate being patient..." Korra grumbled, resigned.

Asami laughed at her scowl.

"I know, but it's only for a few days," she comforted.

"It was also only for a few days already three days ago..."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"That it might be longer than a few days... And I'm not renouncing on sleeping with you for weeks."

"It's not going to take weeks," Asami said ironically, with a soft and mischievous smirk, even if it was maybe a little drawn.

In a way, she couldn't help doubting her own words, and it made float a strange and hazardous apprehension in her; what if it lasted longer?

Nevertheless, she dispelled this fog of uncertainties from her thoughts: it wasn't going to last long, that was how it was.

As for Korra, she was not that convinced.

"That's what _you_ say," she muttered.

"So, basically, you're telling me that if she's still here in one week, you'll force me into bed anyway?" the green-eyed woman rephrased.

"Yes!" Korra responded, with an excessive enthusiasm. "And actually, less than a week: four days. Then, it'll be a week."

The CEO rolled her eyes, not believing such words were coming from her wife's mouth. You'd think that she was suffering from harsh withdrawal.

"Come on, it's not death!" Asami started again.

"It's the death of desire and pleasure," Korra said with a monotone voice.

"You're exaggerating."

"You're not going to tell me you won't get frustrated, right?"

"I... uh... I don't know!" she stumbled, suddenly at a loss of words to answer that question. "I'm just taking care of Isolina."

"Just for you to know: if we have children, I won't wait for them to be old enough to understand what parents do in their bed to do it with their mother. So, we better find a way the soonest possible."

"Right... But if we have children, we'll have time to think about that. Because Isolina is not staying long. I'll make sure of that."

"I'm afraid, it's not up to you, love."

"I'll find her parents."

"What if they don't want to be found? What if she doesn't want to find them? What happens then?"

"She can't stay with us anyway."

Asami untied herself from Korra, as if she was running away from this conversation. She started to change her clothes for the night.

"Why? You love her!"

"Sounds like you like her too…" Asami sighed. "Korra, if you're starting to get attached to her, it's only going to hurt you."

"Right... I handled not seeing you for three years, after being poisoned by a crazy man and losing myself; I think I can cope," she said with irony.

"I'd like to be able to say the same thing..." the green-eyed woman groaned.

Seeing this distant expression on her wife's face, as if she was momentarily living in another world where pain was reigning, Korra couldn't help feeling the need of reassuring her with a great softness.

"Hey," Korra called, gently.

She cupped the pale-skinned face, the green eyes, vulnerable and sad, looking right into her blue ones. Asami leant a bit at the contact, enjoying the touch of the brown skin against her own.

"It's okay to love," the Avatar continued.

The green-eyed woman chuckled quietly, amused by these words being both wise and silly.

"I know, silly you," she answered.

"Then, what's the problem with Isolina?" Korra continued, seriously.

"She's not mine, Korra. She'll never be."

"But... you don't know that."

"She has parents who love her and are waiting for her somewhere."

"You don't know what happened to Isolina. You don't know anything about her parents. They could be some psychopaths keeping her away from the world as far as I know. You don't even know if they were her true parents. The only thing that girl is asking for is love. She didn't ask you to find her parents."

"I can't lose anyone else," Asami said, suddenly burying her head into Korra's shoulder. "I just can't, Korra."

"You won't."

"If I let myself love her, she'll mean so much to me, Korra. She'll mean too much. I'll never be able to let her go."

"You can't push love away from you... It doesn't work that way."

"No, I know, but I can pretend. It's easier that way."

"Oh, Asami... But you already love her. You can't deny it. It won't work."

"I know!" Asami exclaimed, losing a bit her temper.

She walked away from Korra, letting herself fall on the bed. She stared at the ceiling, until Korra climbed upon her and entered her field of vision.

"You know, it wouldn't be that complicated if you had told me about it," Korra said.

"Told you about what?" Asami asked, frowning.

"Your really soft spot for children."

"You could have brought it up too."

"I don't really have that same soft spot. And the main reason, concerning the why I didn't do it, is that I have simply never thought about it. Do I have to remind you thanks to whom we're married?"

"No, I remember proposing, thank you very much."

"If you had told me, maybe you wouldn't have got attached to her that way. She wouldn't represent so much hope for you."

"She's no hope! She's... a cute, little, innocent and adorable heartbreaker…" Asami pouted, almost like a child.

"She's also the only child who entered your life and of whom you can take care. And you want her to stay. That's why you want me to get on with her, because you want to keep her, even if you're not conscious of it."

"Spirits, Korra! How many times do I have to tell you that's impossible? You know what? Let's forget about it. The sooner the girl is back to her family, the better it will be. Good night."

"Good night? It's not even 10!"

"I'm tired..."

Korra sighed.

"You just don't want to talk to me. But very well, good night."

Korra knew Asami was not really mad at her. She was just really lost in her feelings. And certainly very frustrated. Even with that, Korra didn't really agree with being rejected that way. She was even a little upset, but it wasn't as if she could do anything, anyway.

Asami would feel sorry about her behavior, if she weren't already preoccupied enough about Isolina. She loved this little girl deeply against her will and knew she had to give her back to her parents. She just didn't want to suffer, she didn't want to think of the possibility of having a child in her life, because she gave up on every kind of hope long ago. But her stupid heart went against her resolutions and she didn't know how to handle it.

The only thing she knew was that as long as Isolina needed her she would be there for her, she would love her like she was not supposed to and would never be able to be hard on her.

She was just a child. She didn't know the cataclysm she caused to her life and to her feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you liked this new chapter. I really appreciate reviews, they make my days, so think about leaving one if you have time! Any kind of thoughts is useful (most of the time).
> 
> Anyway, I just hope I'm not running in circles, because it's kind of hard going back and forth between the chapters x) Don't hesitate telling me if I repeat myself. Two weeks, it's both too long and too short…
> 
> I hope to see you next time!
> 
> Lion


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone!
> 
> I'm sorry, but it's really late for me. I'll make it short. So, I didn't reread it correctly. I promise I'll do it in a few days. So, sorry for any mistake!
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!
> 
> EDIT: I fixed some mistakes! I'm sure there are more of them, though x)

When Asami woke up, Korra was already gone and Naga was not in Isolina's bedroom anymore. However, the young girl was still peacefully asleep. The young woman smiled a little and let her sleep.

She prepared herself a coffee, wondering about what they should do that day. She stared at nothing, the cup in her hand, while her thoughts drifted to Isolina's parents. Where were they? How to find them?

She had no idea how to. She had no way to find them except counting on the police. But they were too slow! She needed to find them the soonest possible. She could not wait. She definitely could not wait.

But the way things were, it could take months, because Isolina was not on Beifong's priority list. Lin knew that Asami would do anything to take care of the little, blue-eyed girl, but the police were struggling with the other children.

So, the CEO had to find them on her own. And for that, she needed more information. To have more information, she had to question Isolina, and in order to succeed she'd have to spend time with her, which would plunge her even more in the depths of affection...

Asami sighed.

Maybe she should just stop fighting and accept being hurt. It was not as if it had never happened to her before. But it had never happened with a child. She didn't know how it was to hand the object of your affection to some complete stranger. She didn't want to know.

"Why are you making strange faces?" a little voice said, startling the young woman.

"Isolina," Asami sighed, laying her eyes on the source of the voice. "Spirits, you scared me."

The girl came to the green-eyed woman, who was sitting on a long-legged chair. Asami left her cup on the table and lifted Isolina up in her lap. The little girl immediately put her arms around Asami's neck to hug her, before leaving an innocent, little kiss on the young woman's cheek.

Asami smiled lightly, rubbing quickly her nose against Isolina's, which earned a chuckle from the young girl.

"Your parents are so lucky to have you," Asami sighed with melancholy, her eyes closed.

"Why don't you have children?" Isolina asked, suddenly.

"Why do you ask?" Asami responded, taken aback.

"You're nice to me. You would be a good mom. Why don't you have children?"

"It's complicated, sweetie," Asami answered at the repeated question.

She didn't want to say much about it, she already didn't like this discussion with Korra, so with Isolina...

"Why?" the girl asked, with a childish curiosity.

"Because..."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that I don't really want to talk about it."

"Why?"

"Isolina..." Asami warned, with a bit of authority, indicating that she didn't want her to keep asking questions.

"It's not fair," the little girl pouted, crossing her arms.

"What's not fair?" the green-eyed woman asked, not understanding.

"You get to ask me questions, but you won't answer mine."

She had a point. Asami had never viewed things this way. But, now that she thought about it, she noticed that she wouldn't like either if she were asked questions she didn't want to answer without getting some answers of her own. She might as well go see the police. And Asami was not the police. Isolina was with her because of that: to have a chance to be treated with more humanity.

"Fine," Asami conceded, sighing.

She knew that if she wanted to earn the girl's trust, she had to share things with her too, even things she didn't want to talk about.

"Why don't you have children?" Isolina asked for the third time, starting making her curious face again, with her sparkling eyes and her bright smile.

"Actually, there are many reasons to that," the CEO started, without really intending to go further.

The girl stared at her, waiting for the reasons. Asami winced, understanding she would not be able to avoid it.

"First of all... Korra and I are two women."

"So what?"

"Uuuh... Let's simply say that none of us can be pregnant, because you need a man to make a woman pregnant. And you don't really need to know more about that... for now."

Yes, she was definitely too young. Maybe in a few years someone more competent than her would dare explain it to her without being awkward, which she certainly was not capable of doing right now.

"So, we would have to adopt," Asami continued. "But with Korra, we've never really talked about it... And we're both busy, so it would be difficult for us to take care of a child."

"But you're taking care of me."

"Yes, because you need me right now. But I'm not sure I could... we could manage that for months."

The girl nodded.

"Do you like your answer?" Asami smirked.

"Not really."

"Why?" she asked, truly curious.

"Because bad people have children but you're good and you don't," Isolina simply responded.

"I guess..."

What was that supposed to mean? "Bad people"? Who was she talking about? Her parents? Someone else? Who were these "bad people"? Why were they bad for Isolina? Had she witnessed abuse? Had she been victim of it? Was it just some childish distortion of things?

"Where is Korra?" Isolina asked, breaking Asami's train of troubling thoughts. "Is it going to be the two of us again?"

"Yes. Are you disappointed?" she questioned, remembering that Korra and her had spent a good time the day before.

"I like to play with Naga. And Korra's fun."

"We'll see her tonight, I promise. But for now, would you like some breakfast?"

The girl smiled and Asami returned it, making them some breakfast.

* * *

 

The morning went well. They played some old games Asami still had from when she was little. She doubted she could teach Isolina Pai Cho, even though she started learning it around her age.

For lunch, Asami suggested to Isolina they have lunch with Korra. The only thing they had to do was to find her.

Actually, Asami thought she was on the Air Temple Island. Something about coordinating the Air Nomads... So, that was where they headed.

And indeed, Korra was there, laughing loudly with Bolin, while Opal was rolling her eyes, a toddler in her arms.

When Korra saw them, she immediately came to meet them.

"Asami!" she half shouted, halfway from them.

She almost crushed into her, wanting to hug her.

"What are you doing here?" Korra asked, happy, taking the two, pale hands in her own.

Asami kissed her wife before answering.

"We were thinking we could have lunch with you."

"Oh, sure. We were having a break anyway."

Korra kneeled down to Isolina, kissing her forehead.

"Hi, little puppy. Did you sleep well? I hope Naga didn't snore. I'll tell her if she did."

The young girl beamed, liking her nickname.

"No, it was fine. I slept really well, thank you," the young, blue-eyed girl politely answered.

"Good," the Avatar said.

While they were talking, Opal and Bolin joined them.

"Asamiiii!" the earthbender said, with enthusiasm before taking her in a bone-crushing hug. "It feels like I've not seen you since your marriage!"

"Come on, Bolin, we saw each other no less than two months ago," Asami rolled her eyes, but returned the hug as well as she could. "But it's nice to see you too. Both of you, with your little one."

Bolin freed her and Opal smiled discreetly at her.

"We saw each other... but we didn't even talk for more than a few minutes!"

"Nice to see you again too, Asami," Opal said, cutting her husband off.

"Hechllo!" the little boy in her arms greeted.

Asami smiled at the dark-haired boy. He had the same light, green eyes as his parents and had this gleam of energy and mischief from his father.

"Hi you," Asami said, bending to be at his level. "You're a big boy now! Last time I saw you, you were still a baby. How old are you?"

"Am three!"

"Well, not exactly," his mother corrected. "Haruo will be three in six months."

"To go school!" the little boy shouted, excited.

"Yeah... Well, it's more hanging out with a bunch of kids at your age, but anyway. You didn't tell us you had a little one too," the green-eyed brunette said, noticing Isolina.

The latter had been gripping Asami's leg since the beginning of the conversation and, once she got noticed, hid behind her.

Asami smiled gently at her, with only a great softness in her eyes. She brushed the black hair with her hand, reassuring her:

"It's okay, they're nice too."

But Isolina didn't want to leave Asami and preferred staying hidden behind her.

"Okay," Asami said, knowing she didn't want to move.

She kneeled down, opening her arms for her to come.

"Come," she said.

And Isolina put her little arms around the young woman's neck and hid her face into her black hair.

Asami lifted her up, keeping her close, so she felt secured.

"Is it any better?" she asked.

She only sensed Isolina nodding lightly into her shoulder. She caressed her, like she was used to doing, to make her feel a little more comfortable.

"So you... finally adopted?" Opal asked, curious eyes watching the scene.

"Nah, we're just taking care of her," Korra answered. "Asami found her in a street and took her home."

"Oh... It's just that I thought... as with Asami, it looks like she..."

Korra pinched two of her fingers together, passing them on her lips as a zipper, and shook her head.

"Ooh," Opal only said, understanding that it was not something they should talk about.

However, Asami was too busy hugging and comforting the girl to really pay attention at the conversation.

"I'm sorry, she's really shy," Asami said with a little smile.

"No problem," Opal assured. "Maybe we should leave you then."

"What? No!" Bolin exclaimed.

Opal elbowed him in the ribs, so that he would start over.

"Oh, I mean... Yeah, maybe," he said, looking a bit sad.

"Wait!" Asami said.

She didn't want her friends to leave. It had been such a long time since they had spent some time together. Opal and Bolin were often busy with their three kids. Well, Korra and Asami were too.

Besides, Isolina couldn't keep hiding from people. It would be quickly very difficult for her to interact with other people in the future...

When the green-eyed woman met her parents, she'd give them a piece of her mind, that was for sure!

"I'm going to talk to her," Asami continued, hoping to make the girl feel comfortable enough with them, so they could eat all together.

She took Isolina apart from the others, keeping her in her arms.

"Are you okay?" the CEO asked, worried.

The girl nodded, her eyes fleeing hers.

"Hey, look at me. It's just the two of us here. You're not afraid of me, are you?"

She heard a muffled chuckle, before seeing two bright and wide, blue eyes in front of her.

"Here you are! You know, I was looking for you!" the green-eyed woman joked.

The girl chuckled again. Asami smiled and put a strand of black hair behind the girl's ear.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, lowering her eyes.

"It's okay. I know you're not used to having people around."

When the girl didn't answer, she kept going:

"Isolina, do you feel like having lunch with them? If not, it's fine, it can be only you and me. I don't know if Korra would join us. Certainly..."

The girl remained silent.

"They won't hurt you, I promise. They are good people. Opal is really gentle, she has three kids, you know. Bolin gets a little too excited for almost everything, but he's nice. They helped Korra saving the world many times."

The girl still gave no answer.

"I see..." the young woman said slowly, a little disappointed not to have managed to convince the young girl. But she didn't want to insist more. "Well, then, stay here, I'm going to tell them we're leaving."

She lowered the little girl to the ground, kissing her forehead. But when she was about to leave, a little hand gripped hers. A curious, green look landed on Isolina.

"I'm willing to try," the little girl said, still not meeting her eyes.

Asami softened. She kneeled down to the girl's level.

"Isolina, sweetie, look at me," she asked gently.

The girl's fearful, blue eyes met the hopeful, green ones.

"You're a courageous little girl," she said, admiration slipping in her voice. "I don't want to force you. If you don't feel like hanging out with a bunch of strangers, let's not do it, okay?"

"No, it's fine," she said, lowering her gaze once more. "Just... don't leave me..."

Asami's heart almost broke when she heard the pleading, fearful, vulnerable voice of this little girl, as if she was on the verge of tears.

"Of course, I won't leave you, sweetie. Never," the green-eyed woman reassured, moved.

She kissed again her forehead, and the corners of Isolina's lips curved a little.

Asami got up, extending her hand for her to take.

"Shall we go?" she smiled proudly.

The blue-eyed girl looked up at her, lightly smiling, with shyness. She took Asami's hand and they got back to the others, a few feet away.

* * *

 

"So... what's up with Asami?" Opal said once the long-haired woman got away.

"Nothing."

"Yeah, that's why you stopped me just a few seconds ago."

"Let's simply say that we're avoiding some topics... like adoption, children and especially how she behaves with Isolina."

"Isolina? The girl? Why?"

Korra nodded.

"Because she made up her mind about not having children and she becomes all motherly with Isolina. She doesn't want her to leave. I think she may even want to keep her."

"Well, that's good news! What's the problem then?"

"The girl has certainly parents somewhere who are waiting for her."

"Ah, bad news..."

"But even if she hadn't, I'm not sure Asami would allow her to stay with us..."

"Why?"

"Too dangerous."

"Right... But nothing happened in years. The world is at peace, we're just helping out."

"Well, I let you tell her that, because she won't listen to me."

"She's being ridiculous."

"I know. I'm sure it would make her happy. She's happy with her. We all are."

Korra looked at where Asami and Isolina were, seeing the young woman kiss the girl on her forehead, before heading back to them.

"So?" Bolin exclaimed, when Asami came back, almost exploding due to his eagerness to know the answer.

The young woman felt Isolina's grip tighten on her hand.

"So, you need to calm down and, yes, we're staying. As long as she feels good," she added.

"Yes! Amazing!" Bolin could not help but shout with happiness.

"Bolin, she told you to calm down," Opal sighed, scolding him as if he were one of their children.

"I know! But I'm just so excited! I wish Mako were here too."

"Certainly too busy with his prince," Korra smirked.

"Former prince," Asami corrected.

"Not in his heart," the Avatar winked.

The CEO chuckled.

"Indeed."

"So, I guess we're not eating with the other airbenders?" Opal said.

"I would rather not," Asami admitted.

"No problem," Korra said. "I'm just going to get the food with Bolin. Just find somewhere outside where we could sit. The weather is good, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"Maybe we should use a blanket or something?" Asami suggested.

"I know where to find that!" the airbender said. "Come with me?"

"Sure."

They parted to get the different things they needed to have some kind of picnic outside.

Opal, Haruo–who was now really sleepy in his mother's arm–, Asami and Isolina left to look for a blanket, the little girl never freeing the young woman's hand.

"So... Isolina, right? How old are you?" Opal tried.

The young girl tensed up, looking up at Asami. The latter nodded to make her answer the question.

"I... I'm five," she stuttered in a whisper.

"So... you're going to school next year?"

"I don't know. My parents never talked about school. What is it?"

"It's a place where children learn things, how to read, how to write, for example."

"I already know that."

"You do?" Asami asked, surprised.

"Yes. My mother taught me."

Asami stared at her, wide-eyed, and Opal only raised her eyebrow.

They didn't continue the conversation, as they reached a closet full of bed stuff. Since Opal had her son in her arms, Asami took the blanket under her arm in order to keep Isolina's hand in hers.

They then looked for a place to sit. They simply chose a parcel of grass in the shadow of a tree. The green-eyed woman put the blanket on the ground and they sat on it, taking off their shoes.

Soon after that, Bolin and Korra came, arms full with things to fill up their stomachs.

They ate together and it went well. They talked about old times and their lives.

Asami often glanced at Isolina, making sure she was okay. The little girl simply kept quiet, close to her.

Haruo had fallen asleep and his mother put him to bed for a little nap.

When they were all over, they laid down on the blanket, knowing they'd soon had to go back to work. Well, not for Asami.

She had Isolina's head on her lap. She caressed the raven hair softy, until the girl fell asleep. She continued her movement, not wanting to wake Isolina if she stopped. She laid her eyes on the little body on her and never looked away from it.

Opal was staring at her, curious. She had never seen that look all over her friend's face. It was a look of incredible hope, great peacefulness, and gentle love.

She looked at Korra, nodding toward Asami. The Avatar had already seen that look on her wife's face, almost exclusively when she was with Isolina.

The Avatar only sighed, mouthing an "I know" to Opal. Asami was too distracted to notice anything, anyway. As for Bolin, his stomach was so full that he could probably fall into a coma soon enough, or at least fall asleep.

Which wasn't good, so they had to go. Their break was heading to its end, anyway.

"Babe, we have to leave," Korra said to Asami.

"Okay. I'll just stay here and take care of the blanket before leaving. I don't want to wake her up."

"See you this evening," Korra said, kissing her lightly.

Asami smiled, and waved to her friends who did the same, too afraid to talk and wake up the sleeping girl.

"They seem... close," Opal said to Korra, once they were further.

"They are close. Isolina needed someone to love her, and Asami to give love to a child. I don't know how it's going to end..."

"At least, you'll be there for her anyway," the green-eyed woman said with a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Yes, I guess I will," the Avatar sighed, hands on her hips.

"Let's not think about that now. You can't do anything about it anyway. So you were saying that the police and the airbenders should work better together?"

And so, they returned to Tenzin and the other airbenders to keep planning where to send some help.

* * *

 

Minutes later, Isolina woke up, pleased to be on Asami's lap.

She sat up, looking around her.

"Where are the others?" she asked.

"They got back to work," the young woman answered, her hand still running through the young girl's hair. "Was it okay? To be around them, I mean."

"I think," she answered. "But I like you better."

Asami smiled.

"It's because you've spent a lot of time with me. Shall we go home? Except if you have something in mind you want to do first."

Isolina shook her head.

"Maybe we'll stop by the police station first."

The girl nodded.

They got up and Asami folded the blanket. She didn't know whether she should put it back where they had taken it or put it somewhere someone would wash it. It was not as if the grass was really dirty, but it was still the ground.

Eventually, Asami didn't decide, because she met Pema.

"Oh, hey, Pema!" Asami greeted, almost shyly.

"Asami, dear! It's been so long! You should come on the island more often."

"Well, everyone is so busy, I wouldn't like to impose."

"Nonsense. You know that you're always welcome here."

"Thanks, Pema."

"And who's this cutie?" she asked, lowering herself to get a better look at Isolina.

"Her name is Isolina," Asami answered instead of her, noticing the girl starting to cling onto her again.

"What brought you two here?"

"We were having lunch with Korra, Bolin and Opal."

"You could have joined us in the main room."

"Actually, I asked them not to. Isolina is not really used to people other than me and Korra."

"Oh, I see. She's living with you?"

"For now, yes."

"For now? I didn't know that you hosted children."

"We don't. Usually. But it was the only solution."

"I see..."

"Anyway, I wanted to know what I should do with this blanket! We used it to picnic outside, so it's not really dirty, but still..."

"I'll just take it with me."

"Thanks, Pema."

"Don't mention it."

"We have to go. But see you soon!"

"I hope so. And I hope to see Isolina again too."

Asami smiled with a hint of sadness, but not brave enough to say that she should be gone by then. Because she didn't want her to be gone by then, even if she needed to.

Before going home they went to the police station where Lin told them she still didn't have any news from Isolina's parents. Asami grunted and Isolina shrugged, emotionless. Lin raised her eyebrow, troubled by the reaction.

Then they got back home. Asami didn't know what to do with Isolina. So she played with her, chatting with her, getting to know her. However, she wouldn't talk about her blurred past. Asami knew about her favorite color, her dreams, what she learnt, how she learnt, what she liked... Unfortunately, all of that wouldn't help her find her parents but only make her love her more.

Finally, she decided to cook them something for when Korra was home. She left Isolina with her drawings, always some bright colors spilled together.

But then, the little girl got bored and joined her in the kitchen, asking if they could make a dessert. Although a little surprised, Asami agreed and they went through an old book of recipes the young woman had kept from her mother. They chose to make a strawberry pie—strawberry being Isolina's favorite fruit, as Asami had learnt.

It was fun. Isolina was as messy as Korra was in the kitchen. That was how she ended with flour all other her face and in her hair.

"Ok, I think we need to wash that away," Asami smirked.

The little girl giggled and Asami took her to the bathroom, where she delicately washed the pale face with a soft towel.

"Do you want me to wash your hair?" she asked, drying the little girl's face.

"If you don't mind."

"Of course, I don't, sweetheart," she said with a kiss on her now-clean cheek.

Isolina grinned at her and Asami washed her long, dark hair, being careful not to hurt her.

"Are you going to braid them?"

"If you want me to."

"It would be nice."

So, the green-eyed woman dried as well as she could Isolina's hair with a towel and started braiding them even if they were still a bit wet.

The little girl liked it and since Korra was still not home, they played a bit more.

"I'm home!" Korra said when she got in the house.

She then saw Asami going through the room as if looking for something.

"Are you looking for something?" the Avatar asked, incredulous, titling her head.

"Oh, hi, Korra! I didn't hear you got home."

"Yet, I shouted..."

Asami came to her and kissed her, a little bit harder than she had been used to since Isolina had come living with them.

"You're not afraid of Isolina seeing us anymore?" Korra inquired, noticing the little change.

"She's hidden somewhere. We play hide-and-seek."

"Ah, I see. So, basically, you lost her?" the Avatar smirked, teasing her.

Her wife just smacked her on the arm, playfully.

"Actually..." she started, trailing off.

She then walked to her bedroom, walking around the bed.

"No, not here," she said to Korra with a wink.

They then heard some little, muffled chuckles from under the bed, which made both women smile and suppress a laugh of their own.

Asami gestured, so that Korra walked out of their bedroom. The CEO closed the door, eavesdropping what was going on inside. She heard the little body of Isolina sliding against the wooden floor, and then, a few little and delicate steps which came toward the door.

Asami chose this moment to open the door and rapidly take Isolina in her arms.

"Got you!" she exclaimed with a smile.

The little girl laughed and Asami started to tickle her, lying her on the bed for Isolina to be comfortable.

"No, don't do that! Don't tickle me! Asami!" the girl complained through her laughters.

Asami laughed too, imitating a monster with some "arrrgh" "ruuugh", saying she was going to eat her alive. She blew raspberries on the girl's cheek and neck and Isolina only laughed harder.

After some time, Asami finally stopped, letting herself fall onto the bed and lie on it. Isolina climbed upon her, a smile all over her face. The young woman cupped her cheek, the girl leaning into her touch. She then laid onto Asami and the green-eyed woman put an arm around her, with a little sigh of contentment.

Korra was leaning against the door frame, arms crossed against her chest, watching the scene. She smiled all along, as a spectator, as if she weren't there. It looked like the little girl and the young woman had completely forgotten about her. They were in their own world, as, she suspected, they had been most of the day.

The blue-eyed woman didn't want to interrupt them, to enter in their world without an authorization. So, after watching them for several minutes, she left, going back to Naga.

"Hey, girl," she said to her polar-bear-dog friend.

The latter nuzzled her and Korra petted her.

"I don't know what I should do with Asami," she admitted to her animal confident. "We're most of the time on the same page, you know. But since Isolina has been here, I don't know what to do anymore! Well, Asami is not helping me. I think she hasn't left me out so strongly before."

She sighed.

"This whole situation is so complicated... I don't know what Asami really wants and she doesn't want to talk to me about it."

Naga looked her in the eyes, as if to say: "what about you?"

"Me? I just want her happy. I've never seen her like that. Well, I guess she's a bit like that with me too... But it's not the same. I mean, I'm her wife, not her daughter. She doesn't have to take care of me the same way. You know what I mean, right?"

Naga only looked at her and licked her face.

"Ugh! Naga!" the Avatar complained. "But I guess you're right, I should talk to Asami about it, not you. Whenever she'll accept talking about it..."

She petted her white-furred animal a bit more, before heading back inside. Isolina and Asami were still on the bed, but this time, the little girl was sitting on her wife, busy clapping her hands against Asami's.

Korra almost threw herself at her bed, landing beside Asami, on her elbow so that she could see both of them playing. But as soon as she got noticeable, Isolina stopped playing and threw herself at her neck.

"Korra!" she happily shouted.

"Oh... Hey," the Avatar started, stumbling, as she was too surprised by the sudden enthusiasm of the little girl. "Hi, little puppy!"

She hugged Isolina back and saw Asami smirking, with a knowing smile. Okay, Isolina was adorable... She got that.

At this time, she realized she had been wrong earlier. This world, where they played joyfully, was not Asami and Isolina's world. It was only Isolina's. She invited Asami to come along, and she was doing the same with her.

When the young Avatar and the blue-eyed girl parted, the latter was smiling.

"Can I play with Naga tonight?" Isolina asked.

"Sure. I mean, if it's not late," Korra said.

"Then, we better eat before it's too late," Asami advised. "Supper is ready anyway."

She got up, soon followed by her wife and the little girl.

They set the table and ate. Korra asked how their day was and Isolina started to tell her about all the things they had done.

The Avatar smiled at Isolina's energy. The more the days passed, the more she was open to them, the more she was getting back in touch with a childish, adorable, enthusiastic, playful part of her.

She was light. A beautiful, little, cute light in their days.

While they were eating the strawberry pie, the CEO told Korra how the kitchen was a real mess and teased her, saying she had the same cooking abilities as a five-year-old. The Avatar falsely pouted like the five-year-old she was told she was, and the two others laughed, earning a smile from the blue-eyed woman.

Once they were done, the two women cleared the table and took care of the dishes, while Isolina went playing with Naga in the living-room. Usually, the polar-bear-dog wouldn't come inside, but Asami felt more secured if she could see Isolina when she played outside, which she could most likely not do from the kitchen.

It got late and Isolina was put to bed by Asami, like the nights before. Naga settled down in the room to sleep with the little girl.

Asami kissed the girl good night.

"And remember, don't play with Naga. You sleep," Asami ordered.

"Yes, Asami!" the little girl playfully answered, rolling her eyes.

"Good night, sweetheart," she smiled.

Korra came to kiss her too and Isolina hugged her.

"Good night, little puppy."

And she closed the door, joining Asami who got back to the living-room. She had taken a book and was reading on the couch.

"Asami," Korra called, somewhat a bit hesitant and shy.

The green-eyed CEO looked up at her with worried eyes.

Korra sat on the couch beside her, the green eyes never leaving her. She sighed.

"We'll have to talk about it, you know," Korra said, looking at the wall, her elbow on her knees.

She heard no answer, but she felt the pale-skinned hand on her forearm. She looked at its owner.

Asami had a thin grin on her face, looking vulnerable because of her light and sad green eyes.

"I know," she only said.

Korra knew she meant that they would do that but not right away.

The Avatar smiled back, with an understanding look. Asami leaned on her arms to get closer to the dark-skinned face, before kissing her tenderly.

"I love you," she said.

"I love you too."

Asami sat back, her back against Korra's chest as she kept reading. The blue-eyed woman only kissed the top of her head, while rubbing little circles on the CEO's shoulder.

They stayed like that until they went to bed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoyed it? How about a comment? Kudos? Anyway, thanks for reading! See you next time!
> 
> Lion


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A day at Republic City's zoo, and Asami and Korra need to clear up some things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone!
> 
> Two days late this time. I hope you'll forgive me ;) Well, I have to admit, I hated this chapter when first I wrote it. So, when I corrected it, I changed too many things, and I had to use these two more days to update this version (since I correct the French version first). So, yeah, sorry! I hope it doesn't have too many "French ways of viewing things", or too many mistakes. But, well, you don't usually complain, so I guess it's good ;)
> 
> By the way, the fanfiction is rated T, and this chapter slips a little to M, but I'm not even sure :/ Well, just know there is nothing explicit, or too explicit, and that it's not long anyway. I just don't want people to be surprised in a bad way xD
> 
> Anyway, I let you enjoy this chapter!

This morning, Isolina was the first one to get up. She didn't know if Korra and Asami were still asleep but she didn't want to disturb them.

Naga certainly sensed that the little girl was awake, because she woke up too, sitting straight and waiting for her to do something.

Isolina played with her a little, and petted her, for long minutes, letting some discreet chuckles escape her mouth.

But then she decided she needed to go to the bathroom. She got out of her room and Naga followed her the whole way.

Once she had done what she needed to be done, she wondered what she could or should do. After all, she didn't want to wake up the two sleeping women. However, Naga decided otherwise.

"Naga! Where are you going?" the blue-eyed girl whispered, as the polar-bear-dog was leaving.

The animal payed no attention to her and climbed up the stairs which went to the rooms.

"Wait, you can't go this way!" Isolina warned, following her.

Naga stopped at Korra and Asami's door, looking at the little girl, as if asking her the permission to go in.

"You'll wake them up, we can't go in."

But Naga was looking at her with her puppy eyes. Isolina bit her bottom lip. Was she supposed to let her in? Probably not.

However, she felt a bit lonely and she didn't know what to do alone in the mansion. Plus, Naga could certainly get in without her anyway: with her big paws and her weigh, she could undoubtedly kick down the door, and certainly a part of the wall. Which was far from being a good thing.

She didn't even know why Naga was asking her in the first place. Was she even asking? Maybe she was just saying: "I'm going to go; do you want to come?"

"Fine," Isolina said, with a bit of apprehension. "But just for looking, okay?"

She opened the door slowly, not making any noise, and Naga didn't even wait for it to be fully open before rushing inside, forcing entry into the room and pushing Isolina in the process. Immediately, Isolina felt regret spreading through her stomach.

Asami and Korra were both asleep in their bed, facing each other in their sleep. They were breathing slowly and at the same pace. On the red blanket that covered their bed, their hands were linked, their fingers interlaced. It looked like they had been talking before falling both asleep at the time, time stopping during their sleep.

"Naga, wait!" Isolina whispered, not wanting to interrupt this marvelous painting of the two women peacefully asleep.

But it was too late. The polar-bear-dog had already made her way to Korra's side, nuzzling her back. Her big, wet nose wandered on the Avatar's neck. Korra noticed it very soon, because she had already been awoken this way numerous times.

"Naga!" she grunted, not willing to open her blue eyes.

Asami started to move too, disturbed by the little noises and the movements.

Seeing that, Isolina climbed upon the bed to join her. She walked on all fours, and stopped when she reached the green-eyed woman's pale and sleeping face.

"I'm sorry. I let her in," Isolina said, apologetic.

"It's fine, sweetie," Asami said with a sleepy voice, struggling to open her eyes, but extending her hand for Isolina to come closer.

The girl laid down between the two women and Asami caressed her arm slowly.

"So, you're not mad?" Isolina tried to make sure.

"Of course not, sweetie."

"I am!" Korra spoke.

"Korra..." Asami grumbled, between reproach and exasperation.

"Mornings are Evil," she simply responded, bitterly, while putting her head under a pillow.

"Don't mind her," Asami said to reassure the little girl. "She's just grumpy in the morning."

Then, there was a silence. They could only hear Naga's impatience, as she was fussing around.

"Are you going to go back to sleep?" Isolina asked, staring at Asami who still had her eyes closed and a hand on her forehead.

"Mmm... Probably not," she answered. "Just have to get up."

"Is Korra going to get up too?"

"I would be very surprised if she did," Asami chuckled.

They then heard some kind of grumble from under the pillow.

"Doesn't she have to get up for work today too?" Isolina continued, curious, because Korra was often already gone when she got up.

"What?!" Korra exclaimed, as if she were deeply offended, staring at Isolina after having pulled her head out of under the pillow. "No work today, little puppy. It's the weekeeeend."

"You sometimes work on weekends too, miss the Avatar." Asami made her notice.

"Whatever..." she said, waving nonchalantly her hand in the air.

"Come on, Isolina, let's have breakfast. Korra will join us when her stomach asks her to."

Asami got out of the bed, Isolina was following her while they were walking out of the room.

"Come on, Naga, you know that Korra is not going to get up," Asami said, opening the door of the room.

And the polar-bear-dog got out then, going ahead of the girls. All three of them went through the mansion to get to the kitchen, then Asami opened the big window to let Naga run.

The polar-bear-dog immediately got out to run freely in the garden. The green-eyed woman filled a bowl for her, and put it beside the window for her to eat whenever she decided to.

Then, she prepared breakfast and ate with Isolina. All along, the girl was staring at her. After some time, Asami finally picked on it.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's weird to see you without makeup," the girl said.

"Ah, right. When Korra saw me like that the first time, she stared at me for hours, not letting me out of bed. Not that I wanted to go out of it, anyway," Asami smirked, her eyes staring at some imaginary spot as she recalled the memories.

Isolina looked at her, curious, not being used to seeing Asami with this kind of expression on her face.

The young CEO shook her head, leaving the past to come back to reality.

"Anyway!" she said, a little too loud. Isolina didn't need to know about these memories—which involved lots of kissing, caressing, cuddling, pleasure... Yeah, she definitely didn't need to know that. "I'm going to see what Korra's doing. She's usually not that long to get up."

She cleared her part of the table, since the little girl wasn't finished yet, because she had spent most of her time staring at the young woman.

Then, she went upstairs to find her wife seemingly asleep on her pillow. She rolled her eyes, amused.

"You're really serious?" Asami asked, reaching Korra's face with the back of her hand to wake her gently.

A second after that, two strong hands gripped her hips and Asami fell onto her bed, using her hand not to bump her head into Korra's. Two lips captured hers and somehow, she ended up astride Korra's hips, with her hands cupping her dark-skinned face and hands running along her back. A soft moan escaped her lips as the kiss deepened.

"Korra, we talked about that," Asami said between two kisses with a warning tone.

"I'm not doing anything," the Avatar answered, innocently.

You are. You're arousing me, Asami thought, as she felt her body reacting to her caresses and her kisses.

They kissed for several more minutes. Asami pulled Korra closer, the closest possible. She had her arms around her neck, her chest against her, and if she could she certainly would let her hands wander on the dark skin. But she knew that if she started that, there was no going back.

"You should go breakfast..." Asami tried. She didn't really want Korra to stop, she never would, but she had to.

"I'm perfectly fine here," she answered with that terrible, deep voice that sent shivers along Asami's spine.

The Avatar let one of her hand go under Asami's night wear, flirting with her pale skin on her back, before travelling across her stomach, going up to caress her breast.

"Korra," Asami breathed, finding it suddenly hard to breathe. It was meant to warn her, to stop her, but it came out more like a call for her to fulfill her desire.

"Yes?" the other woman asked, as she trailed an invisible way down her neck, nibbling a bit of the pale skin along the way.

"The door is open," the CEO said, as Korra's mouth was now on her stomach, letting burning kisses on her skin.

"Do you want me to close it?" the Avatar asked.

Yes, Asami thought first, and then: it's not what I meant though.

She realized that her excuse was actually pitiful, and it sounded more like she wanted to continue this. She definitely wanted to continue this. But no. She had to stop that. Without any doubt.

Except that it was too late. Korra had slipped her hand under her pants, putting light pressure just on the right spot.

"D-Don't," she stuttered, shakily, trying to keep her moan to herself.

"Are you sure?"

I'm not sure of anything, Asami thought.

She was completely lost, disoriented, powerless facing her wife's love. She succumbed to her tender caresses and her gentle attentions.

"Stop, I-..."

She didn't get to finish her sentence as the pressure came back, as a hand fondled her breast again with passionate care.

She knew what Korra was going to do next. She couldn't let her do that. She couldn't allow her to give her what she wanted. Not now, not like that.

When fingers began brushing her intimate area, in her confused and hazy mind, she started thinking of Isolina, her sweetness, her innocence.

Now was not the time. She couldn't do that. She couldn't do that to her.

She breathed heavily, trying to gain enough courage to leave from Korra's lap. Then, suddenly, she withdrew, leaping to sit to the edge of the bed, turning her back on Korra. She put her head in her hands, trying to calm down.

The Avatar gently smiled.

"And to think that I almost got you," she smirked.

Asami would have glared at her if she weren't that confused and flushed, due to her own weakness. She was breathing heavily to regain her composure, to cool off, to forget the need of her wife's body, the emptiness of her unfulfilled desire.

She rearranged her clothes.

"You need to breakfast and I need a shower," Asami stated, emotionless, after a few long seconds hanging up in the air.

"Oh yeah, I felt that," Korra chuckled.

Asami finally found the courage to face her, and looked daggers at her.

"It's not funny, Korra!" she scolded. "The door was open!"

The Avatar moved her hand, and the door closed thanks to airbending.

"I could have closed it. I didn't know how far you would let me go."

"Too far, apparently."

She then proceeded to go to the bathroom, not willing to have any talk on the moment. She didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"Whoa! Stop!" Korra ordered, feeling like she couldn't leave the situation as it was, at risk of putting in danger their relationship.

She rapidly untangled herself from the bed sheets and joined Asami in the corridor before she reached the door of the bathroom.

She seized her hand and Asami jumped a little, almost screaming:

"Don't touch me!"

Despite her brutal orders, she didn't free her hand. She turned around, seeing hurt in Korra's eyes, who held the tips of her fingers. She immediately felt guilty of her hard words. She had never done that before. She had never rejected her touch. She had never rejected her.

"I-I'm sorry," she apologized, feverishly.

She saw the blue eyes softening a little, even if hurt was still into them.

"It's okay, my love," Korra said, with a sweet slowness.

"I just don't want to start again," she explained, lowering her head. "You know I want to. We just can't. Not now."

"I know," the Avatar seriously answered. She kissed Asami's hand lightly, to prove her point, to prove she won't go any further. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have played with you like that. I was being immature. I love you. And I just want you."

"I want you too. But... we have to be careful. Until she returns home."

"I think it'll take longer than expected, love. But I said I'll wait, so I'll wait."

"Thank you."

Now, she thought, how long are we going to manage to wait?

Her thought disappeared as Korra pressed a soft kiss on her forehead. She tensed at first, afraid of what could ensue, but relaxed when she remembered their talk and realized it was an innocent kiss, only filled with pure love.

"I guess Isolina is downstairs?" she said.

"Yes."

"Cool. I'm going to join her then. Have a good shower."

"Thanks."

They parted ways.

A few minutes later, Asami got in the shower. Taking off her clothes, she let the hot water hit her head and run along her back, as she breathed, leaning on the wall and the head directed at the floor.

She could still feel Korra's hands on her, in her. She missed her touch. She missed her skin. She missed her kisses and her mouth, her warmth and her body. She wanted to feel everything, to have her to her and for her, without anything but their bodies to convey their mutual love. And she knew all too well that these simple thoughts reawaked her body to an ardent desire.

Asami breathed heavily, trying to control her passionate yearning.

To say the truth, she didn't quite understand. She felt like she was a horny youngster, unable to control herself. It was a terribly violent and sudden lack, although it had only been a few days.

Yet, it was not as if they had never been separated. Nevertheless, when they were, they could not do anything else beside waiting for the other. There was nothing to tempt them, to mock them, to make them give up. This time, they had to stop themselves, they had to fight against their desire—though they had never needed to care about something like that before! They lived in their mansion and had always done whatever they wanted to, whenever they wanted to.

Asami sighed.

Korra was right. If Isolina stayed any longer, they would have to find a way to release the tension, or the littlest physical contact might them drive to a series of events Isolina would not be part of.

Not that Isolina would be that traumatized... Well, Asami never had the chance to bump into her parents like that, so she couldn't know for sure. Nonetheless, she knew that when her father decided to have "the talk" with her, imagining that her parents had had sex was... quite disturbing.

She shook her head. Even now, it was quite disturbing. So, the less Isolina knew, the better it would be. Plus, she didn't want to have to deal with the certainly really awkward questions that would come afterward, like "what is it for?". Because a couple composed of a man and a woman could say it was to have children, but them…

Eventually, Asami decided to stop thinking about that—at the least to try—and showered. She dressed up and put some make-up on, before heading to where her wife and Isolina were.

When she reached her destination, she smiled: Korra was airbending the little girl to make her feel like she was flying.

"Look, Asami! I'm flying!" the girl shouted, delighted.

"I see that, sweetie," she answered.

Even if the vision she was given—filled with pure joy and amusement—gave her a real pleasure, she couldn't help but feel a bit worried though. She knew Korra wouldn't drop her, but only thinking that this could happen made her feel uncomfortable.

"Okay, enough for today," Korra smiled, slowly putting the girl down on her feet.

"But I liked it!" Isolina complained, slightly pouting.

"I know, Isolina. But we can't do that all day. I'm maybe the Avatar, but I get tired too."

"Could we do it again?"

"Anytime."

"Now?"

Korra chuckled.

"Anytime, but now," she said, both firmly and gently.

The five-year-old slightly pouted, before Asami took her in her arms.

"You put your make-up back on," she noticed.

"Yes. Do you like it?"

"I like the other way too," she said, while putting her little hands on Asami's cheeks.

"What do you want to do today?"

"I don't know. Will Korra stay with us?"

"I'm not going anywhere," the Avatar assured.

The girl seriously nodded.

"Can we do something together then?"

"Of course, sweetie."

"With Naga too?"

"With Naga too."

And Isolina beamed. That was all she wanted.

* * *

That was how they ended up in Republic City's zoo.

Asami remembered Isolina saying that she hadn't had animals near her house, back when she was still living with her parents. So, the young CEO thought it would be a good way to learn about them.

So far, they had spent one hour and a half in the zoo, under a bright sun, and they had seen dozens of animals. They had even attended to a spectacle with otter-penguins.

The two women loved seeing the girl's face light up when she saw a new animal and how she followed them with her curious, wide, blue eyes as they were moving, almost mimicking their movements.

After a few hours, Isolina ended up on Korra's shoulders, because she had started getting tired of walking. The Avatar was securely holding her legs and Isolina was gripping her head.

"We see a lot more here," the girl commented.

"Oh, I bet you do," Korra said.

"I'm even taller than Naga!"

Asami chuckled a bit. Yes, she was taller than the polar-bear-dog walking next to them.

The staff of the zoo had not been really pleased with the animal walking in, but Korra hadn't given them a choice, only saying she was like a big dog: completely inoffensive. Who were they to contradict the Avatar?

Asami had only shaken her head and let her pursue the talks. She couldn't do anything about it anyway.

But she started to think she should have done something about it because Naga had started barking and howling with the polar-bear-dogs of the zoo, which was frightening everyone around them.

The staff tried to calm the wild polar-bear-dogs, glaring at Naga, because they thought she was the cause of all of that commotion; which was not that wrong.

"Stop it, girl," Korra ordered. "I know you lost your pack but that was a while ago!"

Maybe she should have left her at the entrance... Or she should have tried to have contact with other polar-bear-dogs before, because she clearly wasn't ready for that, and as a consequence, didn't know how to make her stop.

Because despite her requests, Naga wouldn't stop.

"Korra... if you don't do something, we'll certainly be expelled from the zoo forever," Asami said.

"I know. I'm trying!"

She lifted Isolina off her shoulders to put her back on the ground. She then went to pet Naga's head, talking to make her stop, but she had decided she wouldn't obey and would ignore her.

Isolina had been staying with Asami, holding the leg of the young woman. A second after, she decided she wanted to help and left Asami to go to Naga.

"Wait, Isolina! Don't!" Asami said, a bit worried, trying to reach for her, a bit too late as she had already gone a long way.

She knew Naga was usually nothing but gentle, but she was in an abnormal state and, if even Korra couldn't calm her down, she was afraid of what could happen to the little girl, whom the animal had known only for a few days and who remained a vague acquaintance.

However, Isolina didn't listen to her and walked to the white-furred animal. Even if Asami had a great urge to stop her, she decided to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"It's okay, Naga, we're here," she said.

Naga nuzzled her a little and Isolina hugged her big, white face, making her stop.

Korra walked back to her wife, looking at the two with a puzzled look. Then, she looked at Asami who was as puzzled and who shrugged.

"Maybe you should tell them something," the CEO said, noticing all the scared people, who had started to gather around them, staring at the white beast with suspicion.

Korra cleared her throat, before stating with a strong and reassuring voice:

"It's okay people! Everything is fine. Please resume and enjoy your visit."

Little by little, people left, doing as they had been told.

Once they left and Isolina stopped hugging and petting Naga, Korra stared at her animal friend, her head titled to the side, with a dubious expression, and a hand on her hip.

"So that's what it is?" she said. "You prefer her over me. After everything we've been through together? How rude, Naga!"

Her animal friend thought licking her was a good way to be forgiven, and so she did with a great ardor.

"Alright, girl," Korra laughed, through the big strokes of tongue. "I forgive you. As always."

She put their noses together, to mark the renewal of their great friendship.

At this moment, Asami spotted some people working for the zoo walking toward them, certainly to remedy to the Naga problem.

"How about getting an ice cream?" she suddenly asked.

Isolina grinned at her, in a way that meant "yes". So, they walked away to get an ice cream and the employees didn't bother to catch up with them. They had other things to do and they simply hoped they were leaving.

However, the little group stayed for a little while longer before Isolina got too tired and they got home.

She went to bed early that evening, letting Korra and Asami alone.

They talked a bit, uncomfortable somewhat, because of this new dynamic, which had been established since the morning, and which was perfectly unknown to them. After a while, the conversation faded and they realized that they were kind of bored now that the girl was deeply asleep.

"So... what do we do, now?" Korra asked.

"Do we sleep together tonight?" Asami bluntly asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Do we sleep in the same bed?"

"Why wouldn't we?"

"Because I... I'm not sure of what would happen."

"Asami, look at me," Korra said, taking both her hands in hers.

She looked at their joined hands, before looking up toward her wife's loving face.

"Would it be that bad?" Korra asked. "She's asleep."

"I know, but she's a child..."

"Even if she bumped into us doing it, she wouldn't understand."

"Maybe. But maybe it would perturb her. I don't know; have you ever bumped into your parents making love?"

"I didn't really have the opportunity… I've left rather soon for the White Lotus compound. And I don't have many memories before that…"

"As for me, my father remained alone after my mother's death. So, we can't really say we know a lot about all of that."

"Yeah… Not wrong."

They remained silent for a few more seconds.

"Well, so…" Korra started again.

And Asami stayed silent, thinking deeply.

"I guess I sleep on the couch?" Korra asked.

"What? No, I'm not going to make you sleep on the couch! Besides, we have spare rooms."

"Well, I don't know. Maybe being at the same floor might be dangerous, who knows?" Korra joked with a smirk.

Asami groaned.

"Don't be like that…" she begged.

"And… uh, how am I supposed to be when my wife is too afraid of sleeping with me and she sends me somewhere else?"

"It's because you're irresistible," Asami smiled with a wink.

"Sure… Well fixed."

"You know that I love you," she said with a gentle and vulnerable voice.

"I know… And I also know that we both don't sleep well at all when we don't sleep together."

The green-eyed woman winced for a moment. It was terribly true. Even if they shared a house, and as a consequence would definitely be close to each other, sleeping without the other's heat seemed unthinkable.

"Pfff!" Asami uttered, as she let herself fall on the couch. "Why is it that complicated?"

"Don't you feel like you're making them complicated a little too?" Korra said, while going above her.

"Don't look at me with these eyes," Asami complained.

"What eyes?"

Asami pondered then, for a long minute, during which none of the two moved. Then, she straightened up and went for Korra's lips.

"These eyes," she answered, before kissing her again, with more ardor this time, gripping her neck and her brown hair.

"Uh… Asami," Korra warned, noticing that things were starting to get out of control. "Didn't you say that we should sleep apart to avoid exactly this kind of situations?"

"Mmmm… You know what's the problem is concerning this solution?"

"No, but you're going to tell me…"

"It'll never work in the long term. We can as well clear the air now, and see how it goes."

"But… and Isolina..."

"Shhh…" she ordered putting a finger on Korra's lips and gently pushing her, so that she was on her back. "You know you got me terribly frustrated this morning?"

"Whose fault that is?" Korra snorted.

The green-eyed woman started then to kiss the dark-skinned jaw and neck, nibbling some parts of them, as her hands were flirting with Korra's hips.

"You can admit that the timing you chose was not the best," she spoke again, looking Korra straight into the eyes, and raising an eyebrow.

The blue-eyed woman burst out laughing, seeing the rather disapproving look on her wife's face.

"Okay, okay," she confessed. "I guess it's going to be complicated to do that on mornings now. And well, good for us, it's the evening, and our subject of concerns is sleeping. So… bedroom?"

Asami smiled, and took Korra's hand, inviting her to follow her to their bedroom. She let a gentle laugh escape her mouth, as their lips frantically found one another along the way, and their hands explored their bodies. They hardly kept their clothes until they reached the room.

However, they had enough restraint to wait a little, in spite of their burning and harsh impatience.

"The door," Asami said between two kissed, not wanting to have the same situation as the morning.

"Oh, don't worry, this time, I'll close it…"

After that, they threw themselves directly onto the bed and started undressing.

"You sure it's going to be okay with Naga?" Asami asked, suddenly remembering that Isolina was, of course, their main problem, but not the only one.

"Crap, I didn't think about that," Korra said.

They stopped for a few seconds, staring at each other. Then, by common consent, they resumed kissing, because they knew it was too late to stop now:

"She's with Isolina. It'll be fine," Korra said, as if it mattered—they both knew that at this point, they couldn't care less.

However, the name of the girl sent a wave of doubt through Asami's body. What if...

"You sure you're okay with it?" Korra asked, as if she felt it, looking at her in the eyes for a few seconds.

The green-eyed woman answered by taking off the rest of her clothes.

They kissed for a long time, pale skin against dark skin, their hands and their mouths exploring their bodies as if it were the first time.

Asami got revenge for the morning, titillating her partner until her begging was enough for her to fulfill her desire.

When she finished, Korra was breathing heavily against her chest.

"Need a break?" Asami teased, with a smirk.

"Never," the Avatar responded.

She started kissing her tenderly again, gently, caressing her slowly, and Asami knew that even if Korra would never admit it, she needed a few seconds to continue.

And when she felt like it, her hands made her way to Asami's butt and to her wet spot, willing to continue what she had wanted to do this morning. What she managed this time... or so.

Because, soon enough, little knocks were heard and the door was slightly opening, letting a little voice be heard:

"Asami?"

The young woman reacted fast: she took the covers on the bed and wrapped Korra and her in them, before the young girl could see anything.

"Yes?" she answered, trying to steady her voice and her breathing, and to calm her confused mind.

"I had a nightmare," Isolina said.

"Okay. Go back to your room, I'll be there in a minute."

She then heard the door closing again and let herself fall onto the bed, before bursting into incontrollable laughter.

"Why are you laughing? What you feared the most just happened!" Korra said, completely confused both because she had to stop so suddenly and because of her wife's reaction.

"I know, I know," she said, wiping tears out of the corner of her eyes. "I don't know why I'm laughing so hard."

Korra stared, dumbfounded, at her wife who was almost dying laughing, holding her stomach and laughing with difficulty.

"Well, I better go," she eventually said, getting up. "Maybe we should do that under the sheets next time."

"Yeah, that's so convenient..." Korra sarcastically answered, crossing her arms on her naked chest.

Asami wrapped a robe around herself and tried to rearrange her hair.

"Yeah, but if I hadn't reacted, it would have been way more awkward."

"I would have done that myself if my hands weren't busy..."

Asami chuckled.

"I know, honey," she pecked her on the lips. "Let's finish that another time. Do you mind if I send Naga with you? I may spend the rest of the night with Isolina."

"Great. My wife is replaced by my polar-bear-dog..."

"Stop being silly."

"Do as you want. I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"You will."

Asami then kissed Korra what more time, the latter moaning lightly.

"You should go, or I won't take any more responsibilities for what could happen to you and this robe."

The CEO hummed and got away, before it would be impossible for her to join Isolina for at least a few more, long minutes.

"I love you," she told Korra once she reached the door.

"I love you too, my love."

Asami flashed her a smile and went to Isolina's room, as Korra let herself fall nonchalantly onto the bed.

Once the green-eyed woman got into Isolina's bedroom, she asked Naga to go join Korra and sat next to the girl, who was silently following her with her eyes.

"Did I interrupt something?" Isolina asked, quietly.

"Not at all," Asami lied, stroking the black hair.

"But... you looked busy..."

"Sweetie, whatever Korra and I were doing, it doesn't matter anymore. I'm here for you, and that's the most important thing for me. Okay?"

Isolina nodded.

"You're going to stay?" she asked, almost begging.

"Why do you think I asked Naga to leave?"

The girl smiled, reassured

"Want to talk about it?" Asami asked, keeping on caressing her hair.

The little girl's smile vanished then, and she shook her head.

"I understand," Asami nodded. "But, I think it would be good for you to tell me. I had lots of nightmares when I was around your age, and I kept having them for a long time..."

"Why did you have nightmares?"

"My mother died in a big fire. I was saved, she was not. I dreamt about this fire and my mother again and again. I still have those nightmares sometimes."

"So, it doesn't stop."

"Let's say, it's becoming less and less frequent, and someday it's not as painful as it was at the beginning. You live with it, that's all."

There was a long silence. Isolina was thinking about what she had been asked, or at least, Asami hoped so.

"You still don't want to talk about it?" the green-eyed woman asked.

"Maybe another time..."

"Alright. Then, try to get some sleep."

"You're not leaving, are you?"

"Of course not. I'm staying until tomorrow morning. I promise."

Isolina snuggled into the bed, and for a moment, Asami thought she had fallen asleep. But then, her little voice asked:

"Can I have a hug?"

Asami's eyes softened and she smiled a little. She also went under the sheets, on the other side of the bed, and opened her arms for Isolina to come.

"Come here," she said, gently.

The girl came to her and snuggled up to her, being against her still-burning and still-feverish skin. Isolina just appreciated the warmth, and eventually fell asleep.

The young woman had to wait a longer time to find sleep. It felt weird to have that little, tiny, innocent child hugging her to find sleep, when she was so used to her wife, a beautiful, strong woman.

It felt even weirder that the touch was innocent, childish and demandingly, considering she was just having sex with her wife minutes before.

But she somewhat found it comfortable. And when she finished regaining her composure, she fell asleep too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, a little thought for me?
> 
> This chapter is maybe a bit different from the other ones, since it's more centered on Korra and Asami. I hope it was okay.
> 
> Thank you very much for reading! See you in the next chapter, which is about a new, important discovery ;) Is it going to help clear up this mysterious past, or will it be the opposite? :p
> 
> Lion


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Korra makes an interesting discovery...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!
> 
> I'm sorry, I'm late. Yeah, one weak late. Currently, I really busy to say the truth. So, you won't like it, but I'll certainly have to put this story on hiatus. I don't have enough time to write. I'm sorry :/ So, if you don't see me in the next few weeks, you know why! It's just that I can't. However, I'll do my best to come back as soon as possible! I'll finish this story. I'll just ask you all to be a little more patient, okay?
> 
> As for now, I hope you'll like this really important chapter!
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

The next day, they realized it would be a good idea to take care of the house, namely the fridge and what was in it.

So, they basically spent the day shopping and wandering around town.

And then, week started again. Korra went back to work—whatever that could mean for her, who had so many different tasks to take care of—, trying to spend every break with Asami and Isolina.

The CEO had decided to take the week off. She had discussed it with her assistant and everything was apparently fine—which wouldn't prevent her to call once or twice to check, but anyway.

Asami spent most of her time with Isolina. She tried to make her discover a new thing every day, to make her have fun, only to see that joyful expression on the little girl's face.

She also tried to learn more about her and she called Beifong almost every day to give her some more information and to check she had no news about Isolina's parents. But there was nothing. No more information than the first day.

What had scrupulously worried Asami for such a long time had started to diminish as the days flew. She started to care less and less about how long Isolina stayed with her, with them. Maybe she was even starting to like her a lot, more than she would have ever admitted to herself a little while ago.

Actually, she wasn't the only one. Korra, like her, enjoyed every moment she spent with the little girl, and it felt more and more like she had always been part of their life and would be forever.

The thought that her parents would reappear was still there, somewhere in the deepness of their minds, but it was going quiet, even disappearing from time to time.

Isolina didn't seem to miss them... Not much. She wasn't asking for them, in any case.

Asami knew she was still hiding something, something she wasn't ready to share—would she ever be? —, something bonded with the nightmares she was having on some nights. But the green-eyed woman just waited for her to open up.

She hoped, on some nights, when she was the only one who stayed with Isolina, tucking her in after a nightmare, she would talk to her. But Isolina refused to talk about what happened in her dreams.

However, Asami was patient. So, she quietly waited, at every nightmare, at every night, at every minute… She waited for the little girl to be ready to leave the burden she was carrying on her fragile, five-year-old shoulders with her. She waited, and would be there for her.

* * *

"It is true!"

"Korra, it can't be true."

"It is! Bolin told me!"

"That's your justification? I'm sorry, but I'm not sure you could say Bolin is the most reliable source which exists!"

"But that's completely possible! Why the idea of having discovered a new species that breathes fire is so crazy to you? Dragons firebended way before mankind!"

"Dragons which are, to remind you, rare and mystical beasts. And not giant Pabus!"

"Somewhat… In their shape…"

"Korra…" the green-eyed woman mumbled.

The latter suddenly laughed, and after a few seconds, Asami joined her. This conversation was ridiculous.

"Anyway, I'm going to get some water," the blue-eyed woman eventually said. "Do you want anything?"

"No, it's okay. I'll wait for you."

Korra exited their room to go to the kitchen.

Once she got in, she took a glass and metalbent the faucet to make the water run. She waterbent it to make it go directly in her glass, and turned off the water thanks to her metalbending. She brought the glass to her mouth, but before she drank out of it, she noticed that the water was trembling.

Trembling… It was trembling? How could it be trembling? Korra felt the earth underneath and it wasn't moving, even the slightest. So, what was doing it?

Korra bent the water out of the glass, and even in her hands, the liquid was trembling... maybe was it even boiling.

And suddenly, it exploded!

The water splashed her hands and her face, and instantly she got burnt. She let a little scream of pain escaping her lips, closing firmly her eyes and moving back, almost as if she was fighting against a watery enemy.

What had just happened? How was it even possible that she got burnt by water?

She shook her head, not willing to think more about it: healing herself was the priority. She was actually a bit afraid of using water… But she was the Avatar! If she bent more carefully, she couldn't be caught anymore! She just hadn't been ready for this water to explode, last time.

While healing herself with her glowing water, she heard footsteps from her room heading to Isolina's bedroom. Asami was certainly going to Isolina… But why? Had the girl had a new nightmare once again?

A few minutes later, Korra was done, and she went back upstairs to note that, indeed, Asami was not in their bedroom anymore. She took a glimpse in Isolina's room and Asami was reassuring her, caressing her hair and talking with sweet words.

The green-eyed woman noticed her in the corner of her eyes, and nodded, informing her that she would come to see her soon, and that she just had to wait. So did she, leaning against the wall.

A few minutes later, Asami got out of Isolina's bedroom.

"Hey."

"Hey," Korra responded. "A nightmare again?"

"Yeah. She started screaming, so I hurried in her room. She was crying in her sleep. It must have been horrible this time… More than the last couples of times, anyway."

"Asami..." Korra started, crumpling her nose, as she was thinking about what had just happened in the kitchen. The nightmare… and at the same time, water exploding to her face… It was strange how the events coincided. "Do you think... Do you think she could be a bender?"

"I've never seen her bending anything... Why?"

"Nothing. Just a weird feeling..."

"Ok... Well, I'm staying with her for the night."

"I know. Have a good night."

"You too."

They kissed, and Korra went back to the kitchen.

She took a bottle, filled it with water and, going back in her bedroom, put it on her night table. The water was still. Normal. She frowned.

She was going to keep it here and to watch it. She didn't know whether it was a one-night event, or if it was related to Isolina somehow. But she knew that she would figure it out.

* * *

"Good morning."

Korra opened her eyes, and saw Asami smiling softy at her.

"Hi," she responded, smiling. "Did I sleep late?"

"It's not very late."

"Wanna lie with me for a minute?"

Asami didn't respond orally, but she lay down, cuddling up against her wife. Her nose brushed the dark-skinned neck, and she breathed deeply.

"How is she?" Korra asked.

"Fine. I guess... She was so upset yesterday... She was crying and trembling. I tried to ease her, but I don't know what I'm fighting. She doesn't want to talk to me. It took two hours for her to get back to sleep. I wish her parents were here; they could comfort her... I'm so worried... and I can't do anything."

"You're not doing nothing. I'm sure you help her. It's maybe not the way you'd like to help her, but you do."

"Hmm..."

They stopped talking. Instead, Korra caressed slowly the black-haired woman, to communicate all her support and love.

"I'm sure she'll open up someday," Korra assured.

"Maybe she doesn't need to. Maybe she'll be gone by then."

"Maybe... It's been two weeks, though. And Beifong haven't found anything. It's as if she didn't exist before that..."

"She didn't check all the nations."

"I asked my dad and my cousins: she's not part of the Water Tribes either..."

Asami grunted.

"Then, she may be from the Earth Republic or the Fire Nation."

"Asami, what if we never find them?"

"We will."

"It's really hard to find anyone in the Earth Republic. As for the Fire Nation... we could send a message to the Fire Lord, but I wouldn't bet on that..."

Asami remained silent.

"What if we don't find them?" Korra repeated.

"I don't know..."

She hugged Korra tighter, as if to comfort herself, to cling on to her as one could cling on to a rock in the middle of a storm; the Avatar returned the embrace.

The more time passed, the more hope vanished... or, was it growing? The hope of the finding her parents was diminishing. The hope of seeing the girl as a part of their family, on the contrary, was growing.

But was it right? Right to think that, although someone was certainly waiting for her somewhere? Probably not. Certainly not. It wasn't at all.

That was why Asami didn't want to consider the "what ifs". They were going to find her family. There was no other choice. Hope… any kind of hope beside the one of finding Isolina's family had to vanish.

After a few more minutes in their tight, calm and warm embrace, they separated, and Asami got up.

"You're having a bottle of water in the room?" she noticed, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, yeah... Just checking something."

"Ok... Want to tell me about it?"

"Not now. It's probably nothing."

"If you say so," she shrugged, too worried about the little girl to insist more. "I'm going back to Isolina. It's probably better if I'm here when she wakes up."

"Ok. I'll take care of breakfast!"

"Try not to set the whole house on fire," she winked.

"I haven't done that for ages!" the Avatar argued.

Her wife quietly chuckled and left, feeling a little lighter now that she had seen her wife.

"And it wasn't even the whole house," Korra added once she had left, more to herself than to anyone, crossing her arms.

Then, she headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. As she was walking, she saw Isolina's bedroom door being a bit agape. She took a glimpse of the inside.

Asami was on her knees, her head resting on her arms, which were on the bed. She was watching Isolina with adoration and fondness, waiting patiently for the girl to wake up.

Korra smiled, and left, feeling almost ashamed for having caught a glimpse of this special moment. She could easily picture Asami keeping doing that for the rest of her lives, watching that beautiful child and tucking her in.

The rest the day went smoothly. They did as usual, then they went grocery shopping, and the two women tried to lighten up Isolina.

Indeed, the little girl was in a rather gloomy mood. Her nightmare must have been terrible. Usually, she acted as usual, even if something bothered her. But this time...

Asami had never seen her that emotional. It was maybe normal that she was still shaken. Still, the two women preferred when she smiled; so, they tried hard to make her face lighten up again.

They went to a park, in some kind of hidden place. It was not as if a lot of people were outside anyway: the weather was dark. It was predicted that it would rain the day after.

"No, Korra, there is no way I let you do that with her," Asami said strictly.

"Come on, it could be fun!" the Avatar responded. "You didn't even ask her if she wanted to!"

"I don't care whether she wants to climb that tree or not, it's too dangerous."

"Just a few branches... I'll airbend her!"

"I said no. There is no point arguing it."

"Cooome oon!" Korra whined, then pouted: "I remember you being more fun. She's not fun, right?" she said to Isolina.

The little girl shrugged.

"Well, you always agree with Asami, anyway," she said.

"She doesn't!" the green-eyed woman defended.

"She does. She listens to you as if you were her mum."

"Except that I'm not," Asami answered darkly, grinding her teeth and glaring at Korra, because the latter knew that it was a sensitive subject.

So, she put her hands up in submission.

"I'm going to climb that tree anyway."

She airbended herself to a close branch, while Asami shouted to her: "Be careful!"

The CEO then scooped Isolina up. She put a strand of the black hair behind the little girl's ear.

"I'm sorry if you wanted to go," she apologized. "I just don't want you to get hurt. I'm maybe a little too protective, right? I don't want you to feel jailed or anything…"

"It's fine. I didn't want to go."

"Good."

They then watched Korra, who was adroitly and easily climbing. Quickly, she reached the top of the big tree and shouted to them:

"You should have come! There is a great view from here!"

Asami rolled her eyes. As if the view could justify the danger, she thought.

"I'm sure there is," she answered. "Could you come down now? Safely."

Korra jumped and landed easily just beside them, thanks to her airbending, generating in the process a powerful gust of wind which almost threw Asami out of balance.

"Perfectly safe! I told you!" she boasted.

"I know you can take care of yourself. I was worried about Isolina."

"I'll take her up there when you won't be here, then," Korra joked with a smirk.

"Don't dare you to something like that!" Asami aggressively retorted: she didn't like the idea at all. "She's under my responsibility."

"I was just kidding. Relax."

Asami snorted, so Korra noted: no more kidding about the kid's safety. Well, actually, she surely shouldn't joke about anything related to Isolina. Asami was so serious about her...

So, they spend the rest of the time in the park doing things that weren't dangerous and played with the games there.

Isolina even saw other children, but she stayed hidden behind Asami in order not to meet them. The green-eyed woman tried to comfort her, but there was nothing she could do: the young girl really wasn't willing to talk to other children her age. That was why she played on the games where there was no one. And if a kid approached her, she would flee right to Asami, who would hug her.

Somewhere along the day, the blue-eyed girl started getting tired and they got home. Isolina took a nap, and the women withdrew in their room again. The CEO stared at the bottle of water, as if it were some stranger invading her personal space.

"Are you going to tell me what it is for?" she asked, still staring at the mysterious container.

"Not yet," the Avatar answered.

"Do you plan on drinking it?"

"Nope. And don't drink out of it either."

"What is it? Poison?"

"Oh no! It's water. Simply water."

"Fine," Asami sighed, done with the questions. "Just do whatever you want. When are you going to tell me the use for it?"

"Maybe tonight, maybe not. I don't know. Maybe it's not even going to work."

They stopped this conversation and rather took care of supper.

The night arrived fast. Soon, Isolina was asleep, and somehow Asami too. Only Korra was awake. She still didn't know if she was really going to stay awake all night. She was going to have a super hard time the next day, if she were to do that. But, if she wanted to confirm her theory, she had to be awake during the night.

So, she waited patiently. (Which she hated, but her curiosity pushed her to do so.)

But soon, she started dozing off, the bottle of water on her stomach, her eyes heavily closing as sleep was getting under her skin. However, she suddenly woke up when she sensed the water trembling against her skin. She stared at it. So, the events from the day before weren't only one-night events.

She got up, trying not to wake Asami. She sneaked to Isolina's room. The girl was fighting against an invisible enemy, whimpering and contorting herself in her sleep.

Korra watched her, wondering: "should I wake her? Should I get Asami?". But while she was wondering, she water got back to calmness and stillness, and Isolina stopped moving. Looks like she went through her nightmare without waking up, she thought.

But now, she was sure of it: it was no coincidence, the water was reacting to the girl's feelings. She certainly bent it one way or another. Now, was Isolina even conscious of it? Or was she hiding it to them on purpose? Whatever the truth was, Korra was going to discover it.

* * *

"So, Isolina, what do you think of bending?" the Avatar asked.

She had thought that she could guess whether or not Isolina was concealing some mystery, hidden, bending talents by asking her questions and analyzing the answers. As soon as the morning started, she threw herself into a quest in order to have explanations, concerning her most recent observations.

"Not much," the girl said, shrugging.

The answer was not very satisfying. How could this girl manage to be to expressionless? It didn't help her at all! Maybe she should try to push further...

"Do you hate it?" she started again.

"Not much."

"You like it?"

"Not much."

"Would you like to bend?"

"No."

"Korra, stop harassing this little girl and eat your breakfast," Asami interrupted her. "I'm not sure we should go outside today. It looks like it's going to rain," she added, while looking through the window.

"Yeah," she grumbled, disappointed to be interrupted.

They finished eating in silence, while Korra was thinking about another way of testing the girl. Perhaps she should make her play with water? She would maybe bend without even noticing it...

As she was trying to start creating a plan, it started raining.

"I'll get Naga inside," Asami said.

She left. Korra was left alone with Isolina. She stared at her for a few seconds. The girl was eating out of a bowl of cereal, without looking at her.

"Say, if you could bend an element, which one would you bend?" she asked.

"None."

"Come on, pick one! It's not as if it was going to happen, right?"

Isolina played with the cereals which were in her bowl for a few seconds, making Korra hope for an answer.

"Air," she finally said, darky. "That way, no one could see."

"Interesting..." she said, pondering.

She feared someone might see her bend? Was that why she hadn't told them yet? Well, that was if she knew... But since she was clearly avoiding the subject, maybe something was up. Maybe her reluctance was related to her past… But what past? That was the big question since her arrival…

Korra started to understand Asami's frustration. She was also desiring to learn more about Isolina, especially if it could help her understand her bond with bending.

Asami came back with Naga, who was all wet because of the sudden rain. She started shaking her white fur to get rid of the water, the drops splashing Korra.

"Ugh! Naga, stop that! You're making me wet!" Korra complained.

She stopped the drops with her waterbending and put it in the sink. As she was doing that, she had a moment of genius.

The rain... The rain was water. Maybe she should convince Asami to go wandering in the rain...

She hardly saw any better other way for her to be exposed to her element.

However, she waited, because even if she managed to have Asami to agree with her whimsical idea, she didn't know how to make Isolina bend.

Her bending seemed to react to strong emotions... But what could she do that didn't imply that she would be murdered by Asami very soon after it? She surely couldn't scare her to death. Which would certainly be the simplest and the fastest way to get what she wanted.

But she had to find something else… The problem was: what?

At the end, she didn't really have a plan, but she suggested to go outside anyway:

"How about going out? We should walk Naga. You know that she doesn't like being inside too long."

"Well, she doesn't look like she minds playing with Isolina," Asami noticed, watching the polar-bear dog and Isolina starting a silent dialogue.

"Yeaah, but you know... she has some needs... she needs to do outside…"

"Fine. But it's raining, so you could just let her go in the yard."

"Rain is fine! I mean who said Republic City in a rainy day is not pretty? I can protect us from the rain!"

"Why do you want to go outside so much?" Asami inquired, frowning as she got suspicious.

"I don't care about going outside. It's just for... Naga."

"Right... Does it have to do with the bottle of water in our room?"

"Kinda. But don't worry about it!"

"Why don't you just tell me?"

"I want to make sure, first."

Asami sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, eventually giving up.

"Very well…"

And just like that, they went walking into the rain. Korra created a dome of water to protect them from the rain, boasting about the merits of waterbending.

"It's so convenient, you see?" she said to Isolina. "I started bending when I was about your age, and since then I've not been able to do without it! Well, most of the time. Because I couldn't bend for a little while, and that was awful. Can you imagine that?"

"I guess…"

"I mean, it's just like without that dome…"

She stopped bending for a second, and torrents of water fell onto them: they got completely soaked.

"Korra!" Asami scolded, starting to be a bit irritated with her wife's behavior.

"… we're completely wet," Korra finished, watching out for Isolina to do something; anything.

But the young girl was as stoic as a stone, and stared at the ground, keeping walking, without complaining about what she was put through. She was emotionless, impossible to read, and it perturbed Korra.

She would have thought that, after everything she had said or done, she would have at least had any kind of reaction. And absolutely not. She would have thought she would have at least protected herself, but she didn't.

On the other side, _she_ was going to be seriously reprimanded by Asami, that was for sure… She knew that this little game couldn't go on forever, anyway. She just had hoped that it would be a little more satisfying.

She was starting to run out of ideas. Or would it be really necessary to put Isolina in an immediate danger, or to make her go through a great fear? Could she really do that to a five-year-old kid? She found it rather awful.

"Well, I'd like not to be wet, if you don't mind," the green-eyed woman complained.

"Sure," Korra answered, trying to be enthusiastic to finally convince Isolina that bending was great; but she sounded more disappointed than she meant.

The Avatar made them dry and recreated the dome to protect them from the bad weather. She watched Isolina closely, but… nothing.

She was going to groan, to complain, or to do anything that could show how frustrated she was not to achieve her goal, when a hand gripped her arm, holding it almost hard enough so that it hurt.

She turned back to Asami, who had fire in her eyes. That was predictable… Nevertheless, Korra was not really sure she was ready to suffer the wrath of her wife. Maybe that, finally, putting Isolina in danger was not such a bad idea… if it could prevent her to die very soon…

"Could we talk for a minute?" the green-eyed asked, grinding her teeth.

It was far from being a question, but rather an order which was impossible to decline.

"Sure," Korra answered calmly, although she felt a little febrile.

They went under a roof, where Asami asked Isolina to stay with Naga while they were talking. They then went back under the rain.

"Can you isolate us?" the green-eyed woman asked.

"She won't hear us."

" _Please,_ " she insisted.

"Fine," Korra grumbled.

She isolated them in a bubble of water. Then the conversation started instantly and rapidly:

"What do you think you're doing exactly?" Asami almost shouted right away.

"Nothing," Korra said, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Don't lie to me. Don't you think I noticed how you've been insisting on talking about bending since this morning? So what's going on?"

"I'm not sure of it yet."

"Is it about Isolina bending again? Are you trying to push her to the limit or something? Because I won't let you do something which could make her uncomfortable!"

"Who spoke about making her uncomfortable?"

"You just dropped liters of water on us!"

"Well, I was just checking if she reacted. She didn't. Now, I don't know how I could make her bend… Any idea?"

"Why are you so sure she can bend anyway? She could be a simple non-bender as far as I know."

"I don't think so… I mean, the water reacts to her…"

There was a gigantic and loud sound, a lighting crack in the sky, a little girl's high-pitched scream, and the sound of ice violently smashing.

The two women suddenly turned their head to look over the shelter where they had left Isolina: the little girl was both confused and terrified, staring at her trembling hand as if it had done the worst thing in the world, and a line of pick of ice were embedded into the ground or broken onto it.

"… emotions," Korra finished, murmuring since her voice was leaving her because of the surprise.

Well, at least now, she didn't need to find a new way to make her bend…

Isolina looked up at the two frozen women and winced. She took a step back, moved forward, took another step back, took a deep breath, lowered her head, put a hand above her head and went into the rain.

The water was acting like an umbrella, and there no more doubt she was commanding it to do so. And if there was one, it vanished when the blue-eyed girl made a gap in Korra's ball of water to get in it.

She looked up at Asami, her blue eyes sorry and almost watery.

"Could we go home now?" she asked, her voice breaking. "I don't like storms…"

Asami opened her mouth to respond but nothing came out of it. She glanced at Korra: did she want to go home now? The Avatar noticed it, and responded.

"Yes, we can go home. Let's go."

She whistled for Naga, and they got onto her to go home faster, because Isolina was afraid of thunder and lighting. The ride was completely silent.

Once they got home, Asami announced that she was going to have a bath, and she fled to the bathroom.

The other two remained silent for a long moment. Isolina petted Naga, and Korra didn't know whether she should try to initiate a conversation or not. Long minutes passed, but then Korra tried to talk:

"So… you're a bender, huh?"

"Is she mad at me?" Isolina asked, looking at her with sad, pleading, blue eyes.

"Oh… Well, no, I don't think so…"

"Are you sure? She looked mad…"

"She was not mad… just troubled, I think."

The girl lowered her gaze, and focused on Naga. The blue-eyed woman noticed that she was not completely believing her, and she didn't want the relationship that Isolina had with Asami to get bad because of a misunderstanding, so she suggested:

"You could go ask her, you know?"

"Isn't she having a bath?"

"Well, yes… Just knock onto the door and ask if you can get in then."

"Okay…"

She got up and climbed the stairs, followed by Korra's soft gaze. The little girl hadn't had a second thought. She didn't know whether she was simply courageous, or she loved Asami enough to be so willing to make herself be forgiven.

So, Isolina headed to the bathroom, and did as Korra had told her.

"Yes?" Asami asked from behind the door, once she had knocked.

"Can I come in?" the little girl asked, almost confident.

"You can."

She pushed the door, so she could slip in the bathroom, her little body going through the little gap she had made. When she got in, she got surprised: she wasn't expecting Asami to be naked in her bath with a book into her hands.

"You're naked…" Isolina said, fidgeting a little because she was uncomfortable.

Immediately, seeing the young girl's discomfort, Asami dropped her book and strengthened.

"I'm so sorry! It makes you uncomfortable, right? It's just… I don't really mind anymore, I didn't think… well, I was reading so obviously I didn't think of that… Wait, I have an idea."

She took a bottle near the bath and put a bit of the liquid it contained in the water. She waved her hands in the water and soon lots of white bubbles were covering her body.

"Better?" she asked, with a little, guilty smile.

Isolina chuckled.

"It wasn't that bad," she said. "I had just never seen anyone naked before…"

"Even your own parents?"

She shook her head.

"I see… Well, I'm not like that. I mean, my mother would even bath with me when I was little."

After this brief conversation, words faded, and Isolina and Asami stared at each other for a few seconds, none of them knowing what to do. Isolina had almost forgotten why she was there, and didn't dare to say anything, seeing that it looked like Asami was as warm as ever. And the young woman didn't really know why the girl had come to her.

"So, why did you come here in the first place?" Asami eventually asked to break that uncomfortable silence.

"I wanted to know if you are angry at me…" the little girl said, looking at her feet and playing with her fingers behind her back.

"Isolina, do you really think I could be angry at you?" the green-eyed woman asked with a soft voice.

"I don't know… You went all serious and silent…"

"Isolina, I'm not angry at you. I just don't know why you didn't tell me. Do you not trust me?"

Isolina shook her head, indicating that it was not the problem.

"Then why?" she asked again.

"My parents told me not to," the young girl hemmed and hawed.

"Ah, okay…" she answered, astonished.

Those much talked about parents… who didn't want their girl to go out, and who had hidden her bending too… But what were they so afraid of? If the Fire Nation were not that peaceful, she would have thought that Ozai had returned! But there was no one more informed than Korra and herself about the world's businesses, and there was no tyrant who exterminated benders, or put them to jail to this day. So what could that mysterious reason be?

"Do you know why they didn't want you to tell people?" Asami asked, curious.

"It's dangerous."

"Dangerous? You've already said that once. What's dangerous? What were they trying to protect you against?"

"Mean people…"

"Mean people, huh?" the young woman repeated, skeptical.

Isolina nodded, her eyes still glued to the floor. Asami put her head on her arms, which were lying on the edge of the bathtub.

"You're not telling me the whole truth, are you?" she spoke again.

Isolina didn't respond. She took it for an agreement.

"It's part of the things you don't want to talk to me about," Asami continued. "Do you think you'll tell me about them someday?"

"Maybe."

"Maybe is fine enough then."

She would wait. She didn't know how long, but she would wait. Isolina was her little mystery. And it was certainly a long path which led to the resolution, but they would walk along this way together and at the same pace. And someday, they would reach the end of this path, or maybe they would find another one to explore…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was the reading good? I hope you'll leave me a comment! Or kudos. Thanks to everyone, seriously. I'll try to come back with a new chapter as soon as possible!
> 
> See you!
> 
> Lion


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Isolina is sick, and Korra and Asami discover something troubling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Hi!
> 
> It's been a little while, right? So, here I am, a month later. Since it's almost Christmas, that's my little gift (unfortunately, not a really happy chapter, and without anything about winter and partying, but I'm just following my plan xD). As you see, it's a pretty long chapter, and I hope there is not many mistakes! I'm not very pleased with the result, and I would have liked to work a bit more on it, but I wanted to post it before Christmas, so yeah x)
> 
> I don't plan on publishing regularly right now. As ever, I'll try to give you another chapter as soon as possible ;)
> 
> Merry Christmas to you all, have a great beginning for the new year, with joy and all of that! (I'm not good with wishes xD)
> 
> Enjoy!

"Achoo!"

Isolina wiped her nose with the sleeve of her pajamas, after having sneezed for the tenth time this morning.

Asami, who was sitting on her bed next to her, held a tissue to her nose and asked her to blow. She put a pale hand on the little girl's forehead at the same time, observing that it was radiating heat.

"I think, you have a fever..." she said, a little worried.

The little girl only blew, and, once the tissue was withdrawn, wiped the end of her nose with her sleeve once again, sniffing a little before sneezing again.

Asami sighed, putting the fifth tissue away.

"Okay... No work for today. I'm not taking you there, neither am I leaving you here by yourself. Really, Korra has wonderful ideas," the CEO grunted.

She was pretty sure Isolina got sick because of their walk in the rain the day before, especially because Korra had soaked them to the skin.

"I'm sorry..." Isolina murmured, lowering her gaze and sniffing again.

"Oh, it's not your fault, sweetie," the soft-eyed woman said. She took her in her arms and kissed her forehead. "Don't be sorry, okay? You just have to focus on getting better."

"Okay..."

"So, stay in your bed. I'll bring you something to eat after I give a call to my office. Do you think you can handle it?"

"I'm not thaaat sick," Isolina whined, with her nasal voice, and slightly pouting, crossing her arms and sniffing afterwards.

"I know you're not," Asami answered, asking her to blow in another tissue, which she did; "I just want to make sure you're okay."

She kissed her another time on her forehead, and left the room, but not without glancing one last time at Isolina, leaving reluctantly.

She went downstairs, meeting Korra then.

"How is she?" the blue-eyed woman asked, concerned.

"Sick, thanks to you. Were you even thinking yesterday?"

"Come on, Asami, you're not fair. I didn't know she would get sick. You're not really angry, right?"

"I could be..." she sighed. "Could you just keep her company while I call Lu?"

"Sure!"

"Maybe you'll be late to see Tenzin..."

"I'm already late. I don't mind."

Then, she vanished to Isolina's room.

Asami shook her head. Maybe if Lu really needed her, Korra could stay instead of her. She was not really sure that the public opinion would be very pleased, though.

Ultimately, Korra's job was more important than hers, even though one might disagree. If something ever happenned, the CEO would have to be the one who would be relayed at the rank of housewife. And that would weight on her company. But that didn't matter to people. Of course, the balance of the world was more important.

However, over the years, economy had also taken an important part in the maintain of balance. And without Future Industries, lots of people could end up jobless, and, as a consequence, without any income, which would not help the balance of the world. Becoming needy, these people would most likely get desperate and, consequently, end up doing incontrollable deeds, which could cause lots of problems.

That was why neither of them could neglect their work. The world was different from what it was at Wan's time. Balance didn't only concern the Avatar; their society couldn't count on Korra alone. They were too many people, and that number was increasing. Republic City alone was giving Korra a lot of work, and that was just when she didn't go elsewhere to settle a crisis.

Stopping her reflections, she finally reached for the phone and dialed Lu's phone number. True to his duty, her assistant answered as soon as the phone rang:

"Lu? It's Asami," she stated.

"Oh! Boss! How come you're not at work? You're already at a meeting somewhere?"

"Hum... No... I... Well, I don't think I can come today."

"Oh, okay. Is everything alright?"

"Yeah... But Isolina is sick. I can't leave her alone in here."

"Alright. Take good care of your daughter then!"

"She's not my!... Whatever..." she sighed. "Just call if you need me. I hope I'll be back tomorrow."

"There is no rush, honestly. You have a few things to sign, but beside that... we took care of everything."

"You're effective..."

"We would work more if you didn't do everything by yourself, Miss Sato."

"I'm not just a paper-signer, you know..."

"I know, I know. Now go."

"I'll try to stop by in the afternoon."

"As you please," he sighed.

They said their good-byes and hung up. Then, the CEO went to Isolina's room.

She met Korra again there, who had made sure the little girl lay down. She was at the time talking calmly to her and Isolina looked like she was listening to her passively.

"Hey," Asami interrupted.

"Hey," Korra answered, turning to her. "Did everything go okay?"

"Sure. You can go. I know you have things to do."

"Are you sure you don't want me to stay?"

"You don't think I can handle a sick child?"

"No. It's just if you two want some company."

"Aren't you already late?"

"I guess... I could be sick too."

"Korra, you're an adult. Don't use such an excuse when it is obviously not valid. You're too old for that."

"Fine, fine! I'll get going, then."

She kissed quickly Asami, and then Isolina on her forehead.

"Get better soon, little puppy," she said, tenderly, while her hand was going imperceptibly through the black curls.

The girl made a weak smile, and the Avatar left, walking a bit half-heartedly, but vaguely decided to finish her day in order to come back the soonest possible.

"I forgot your breakfast," Asami noticed, once she was left alone with the little girl. "Do you want anything particular?"

"Something hot."

"Is your throat hurting?"

"A bit."

"Okay, I'll get you hot milk. I'll be back soon. Stay in your bed, okay?"

Isolina nodded. Asami went to the kitchen, and after a few minutes she went back to Isolina's room, with the much talked abouthot milk and something to eat.

By the time she came back, Isolina was dozing off.

"You should eat a little, before sleeping," Asami advised. "It'll help you get better."

Isolina hummed lightly, burying herself more under the covers.

"Come on, sweetheart," Asami said, shaking gently the girl's shoulder.

The blue-eyed girl grumbled and eventually agreed to sit onto her bed. The green-eyed woman made her eat a little, even though she wasn't really hungry. She made sure she drank some hot milk with honey for her throat. When she finished, Isolina buried herself under the covers again.

"I'm cold," the little girl said, shuddering.

She then coughed.

"I don't like that..." Asami said, grimacing. "Maybe I should have asked Korra to stay... She could help you better than I."

She caressed the girl's hair once. Soon, Isolina was asleep again, breathing noisily.

Asami sighed. She was going to let her sleep. What could she do meanwhile? She couldn't leave the house, she couldn't really work, and she was too worried to think about anything beside Isolina.

So, she decided to go to the library. She sought a book which could help her soothing the little girl's illness, maybe heal her, but without any bending it could take several days. She spent a few hours, tackled the task. She only stopped when her stomach told her she was hungry.

Then, she went to see Isolina. The blue-eyed girl was still asleep. Should she wake her up so that they could eat together? At least, she wasn't suffering while sleeping. Besides, it was very likely that she wasn't hungry yet. That was why she decided to leave her alone to sleep, and to eat by herself.

She smiled when she noticed that it felt weird for her to eat alone. Recently, Isolina was always with her and she easily missed her presence. It was both sad and moving… Really, she had been used too much to the child and she couldn't even imagine let her go…

She decided to stop thinking about this, and to stay in the present moment: it was where it hurt the less, although Isolina's health wasn't exceptionally well.

So, after having finished eating, she took a book, and read in Isolina's bedroom, so she could look after her. A few minutes later, the girl woke up. She rubbed her sleepy eyes and sat.

"Are you feeling any better?" Asami asked, almost feverishly.

"I'm not sure..." the girl responded, yawning.

As if it were to answer, she started coughing. Asami watched, saddened, the little girl who was coughing her lungs; she sighed lightly.

"It doesn't look like it," she said, a bit annoyed.

"Can I go out of the bed now? I've been in it all day..."

"I know, sweetheart, but do you really feel like it?"

"I'm not that sick!"

"Okay, okay," she capitulated, reluctantly, not wanting to contradict the girl. "You can do whatever you want. It's up to you."

Isolina nodded, and almost jumped out of the bed because of excitation. However, she went a little too fast and started being dizzy for a few seconds. Asami stabilized her, looking her right into her blue eyes. She wasn't going to ask her if she was really sure of herself, because she was quite certain Isolina could start being tired of her being overly worried, but she wasn't going to let her go that easily either.

Isolina nodded, meaning that the green-eyed woman could let go. Asami released her. Isolina didn't care going anywhere in particular. She just wanted to go outside her room. And she did.

The young woman felt compelled to follow her immediately. However, she didn't, and decided to open the window, so that some fresh air could come in. Then, she joined Isolina who was looking through a window in the living-room.

"What are you doing?" Asami asked, curious.

"Just looking at the outside..." she answered.

"Do you want to go out?"

She shook her head.

"Not now," she added to her gesture.

"What do you want to do then?"

"I'm not sure..."

"How about a shower? You might wash away your illness, who knows?"

"It really works?"

"Maybe, maybe not. It sure helps."

"Okay..."

Thus, Isolina headed to the shower, after Asami told her to call her if she needed her.

After that, the young girl started feeling sleepy and dizzy again. The CEO put her to bed once more. She told her to sleep, but the young girl didn't want to. Then, as Asami was caressing her and talking to her with a certain softness, she ended up falling asleep again.

The pale-skinned woman let her hand wander on the girl's forehead: it was even hotter. She found it more and more urgent that Korra came back home. The sooner it was, the better. She was starting to feel a bit overly worried, as it was stronger and stronger. Maybe she should take her to a healer?

She shook her head. No need for drastic measures. She'd just have to wait. But maybe she could wait a little bit less if she found Korra first. Besides, she hadn't called the police for a few days: she might as well do that at the same time.

She left Isolina's room to call to Lin. While on the phone, she learnt that Korra was not with the chief of police. She grunted, frustrated.

She then was updated on the development of Isolina's case. Actually, there was no development. She asked for the other children, and Lin told her that it was still very complicated with some of them, and that psychiatrists were working with the latter.

"Maybe we could provide a psychological help for Isolina, if there is any need for it," Lin proposed.

"I don't think it's a good idea... She's fine with us," Asami answered, on the defensive.

"Is this the CEO talking, or the loving woman?"

"I don't want to scare her off!" the young woman defended, understanding right away what the investigator was implying. "She opens up. She doesn't need unfamiliar things to bump into her life."

"Right... I'm not sure it was a good idea to entrust you with that girl, after all."

"Why? You're afraid I'd beat her?" Asami said with irony.

"No. I'm afraid you won't give her back to her parents," the chief of police seriously answered, with a dead ton of voice.

Asami grinded her teeth. Exactly what she wanted to avoid. It was out of the question that whoever thought something like that: it was absolutely and completely wrong!

"I'll do it. Once we find them," she assured. "I wouldn't call that often, otherwise."

"Well, you see, that's something I don't really know... Are you really calling so that you can give her back to her parents the soonest possible, or are you calling to make sure she stays with you for a few more days? Interesting, isn't it?"

"I said I'll give her back, so I'll to it," Asami said rapidly, upset because of Lin's question. "Anyway, if you see Korra, tell her to come home. And if you don't, then I'll wait."

"Fine."

"Bye," the CEO said, a bit shortly, before hanging up.

She grunted, and then got up to go to Isolina's room, while thinking.

Maybe Lin was right, maybe she was not calling for Isolina anymore. Maybe she just wanted her to stay. To stay with her, to stay with Korra, to stay with them, as a family.

When had she lost so much control of the situation? One could say since the beginning, since she saw her in that street that day, since she had been touched by this new youngness fighting with the pain of the world.

While she was watching Isolina, she let these thoughts wander and asked herself: "would I be a good mother for her?" However, as soon as the question crossed her mind, she violently rejected it and swore it would never happen again. She had no right to wonder about that. Her parents. That was all that mattered. And she was not one of them.

As she was pondering, Isolina started to move, with abrupt and light moves and little plaintive grunts. Asami suddenly woke up. She got closer to Isolina.

She didn't know what was troubling the little girl, whether it was the fever, or one of her regular nightmares. The only thing she knew was that something had to be done, and it wasn't her for the time being missing parents who were going to fulfill their responsibilities, but her: the only one who was really there for her.

"Hey, hey, sweetie, it's okay. It's okay," Asami soothed, with a gentle caress.

After a few seconds of sweet words and caresses, Isolina started to calm down.

"Everything is going to be fine," she spoke again. "I promise, I won't let anything happen to you ever again..."

She continued her soothing movements, watching Isolina sleeping. She didn't move until Korra came home, half-opening the door of the little girl's bedroom, because she figured her wife was very much likely to be there.

She wasn't wrong. And she watched both of them for a little while, noticing Asami's soft and worried face.

"Asami," she then murmured.

The latter turned around and smiled. She carefully got outside the room, without making any noise, and closed the door, very slowly, when getting out.

"Hi," Asami smiled.

"How is she?" Korra asked, low.

"She says it could be worse, but she's not good at all. She has a fever. A bad one. She slept all day, and when she's awake she says she is cold. I managed to make her have a shower, but I think it made things worse... Do you think you can do something?"

"Well, if you think it's bad enough to use waterbending, then I'll heal her. Which is not an excuse to take her to work tomorrow."

"Of course not! I would never risk it!" Asami lost her temper, as if Korra had called her a reckless idiot.

"Okay, okay!" she soothed, holding her hands up in surrender. "I was just making sure. I could stay tomorrow, if you want."

"You can?"

"Yep. I didn't know if you would be able to stay one more day. You know, with your work and all of that..."

"I would have stayed if I needed to. But... I'm not really of any help, so it would make more sense if you stayed instead of me. I guess my company is waiting for me anyway."

"We'll talk about that later. Should we wake Isolina up?"

"I don't know..."

"How long has she been sleeping?"

"A few hours, I guess. She didn't stay awake long. But I guess she needs to rest."

"I'll heal her, and she'll rest afterwards. I think it's better."

"Okay. I'll wake her up."

She got back to Isolina's room, and gently shook her shoulder.

"Mmmm..." Isolina uttered, without even opening her eyes.

"Sorry to wake you up. Korra's home, and I think she can help you feel better. Do you want to try?"

"Okay..."

"Okay, come on. Let's go to the bathroom."

Isolina got out of the bed, all sleepy, under the gaze of the young woman. She started to follow Asami, rubbing her hands to her eyes and yawning. It made her have a never-ending fit of coughing again.

With all the tenderness in the world, the young woman took the little girl in her arms to bring her in the bathroom.

They came across Korra, whose eyes softened seeing the little girl almost falling asleep on Asami's shoulder. Indeed, she certainly was really tired and sick.

All three of them reached the bathroom and got in. Immediately, Asami took care of the water, and she asked Isolina to undress. The girl didn't protest and started taking off her clothes, as Korra was telling her wife that tepid water, even cold water, would help her better to bring the fever down.

After that, like Asami, she focused on watching the water filling the bathtub, since she feared Isolina would feel uneasy if she felt like they were watching her undressing.

However, out of the corner of her eyes, the Avatar could see that she was undressing. And she thought she saw something else… Something a lot more disturbing, which forced her to look at the little girl's naked back more closely.

"What the?..." she started, frowning.

Asami heard her, and turned around, seeing the puzzled face the brown-skinned woman was making, as she was intensely staring at the little girl's back.

"What?" the CEO asked, more curious than really worried.

The Avatar only nodded at the greatly-pale back. Asami frowned, and they exchanged: Korra took care of the water, and Asami got closer to Isolina.

She kneeled down, and blinked a few times, her mouth opening lightly, as she faced a reality she had never thought of. Without even realizing it, her hand got closer to the young girl's skin, until her fingers brushed against it.

Feeling the freshness of the young woman's fingers, Isolina little girl, who was still dizzy because of her illness and a little sleepy, hadn't paid any attention to the conversation that Korra and Asami had had; she had just looked straight forward and took her clothes off.

"I'm sorry, sweetie," Asami apologized, having felt the light quiver of the young girl and her sudden tensing. "I just... What... Did something happen to your back?"

Isolina frowned, confused.

"What do you mean?" the girl asked, after a few seconds, incapable of understanding the green-eyed woman's question.

"You have..." Asami spoke again, hesitantly, as the words remained stuck in her throat.

She traced with her hands those weird drawings on the little girl's back, following the continuous red lines which damaged this pure and immaculate skin. Isolina shuddered.

"... scars..." she finally whispered.

As she realized what she had just said, she stopped talking and her hand stopped moving.

A flow of questions rushed through her. Were they really scars? Scars from what? What had happened? Had someone done that to her? Who could possibly do that to a child? Were her parents involved?

But only one crossed her lips.

"Isolina, what happened?"

For a long moment, there was no answer, and only silence filled the room.

"I..." Isolina started, but soon the two women noticed that nothing followed this only word.

Asami usually didn't want to rush the girl, compel her to say anything, but this time... This time she was terribly scared. So, she made her turn around and looked her deeply in her blue and lost eyes.

"Isolina," she said firmly, holding her little shoulders, "what happened? Did someone do that to you?"

Isolina only stared at her, not moving. Actually, she was looking at her weirdly, as if she was actually not seeing her, as if she was rather looking at her own mind dancing with distant memories and thoughts.

"I... I don't know," she eventually articulated slowly, completely lost.

Asami frowned.

She didn't know… What that was supposed to mean? How could she not know that she had scars on her back? or how they ended up there?

"O-Okay..." she said, exchanging a lost look with Korra.

They'd talk about that later. For now, the only thing that mattered was that Isolina got better.

"Go in the bath then," she ordered.

Going toward the bathtub, Isolina immersed one of her feet in it, before withdrawing it suddenly.

"It's cold!" she complained.

Actually, it was more tepid than really cold, but it certainly felt really cold to her.

"I know, Isolina," Korra said. "But it'll help bring your fever down. It won't last long, but I need you to get in this water."

The little girl stared at the Avatar for long seconds, and then started to immerse herself in the water, not without an abrupt and violent shuddering from her whole body.

"Ok, lie down," the blue-eyed woman ordered. "Let's get rid of this evil illness!" she added once it was done.

She moved her arms in circles above the water and it started glowing.

"It's less cold now..." Isolina said, with a sleepy voice as she was dozing off.

"I know," Korra said, continuing her movements.

She looked at Asami, who was deeply thinking, and indicated her to hold Isolina, as she feared she might fall asleep and fall into the water.

The green-eyed woman thought it was a good idea, and held Isolina's shoulders while she was healing.

For ten minutes, Korra worked hard on the little girl. The latter fell deeply asleep as the waterbending made her feel a deep interior peace, like wrapped in a warm and comforting cocoon.

Ending the healing process, the Avatar eventually put a glowing hand, which was covered with water, on the little girl face to free her nasal canals. After that, the latter took a deep breath, as if she hadn't had breathed for a hundred year.

"She's really tired," Korra said, getting rid of the water and drying the little girl in the process. "Her body wasn't ready to face that. Let's put some clothes on her and put her to bed some more."

And they did.

But as they were putting her to bed, Isolina woke up just a little to say:

"I want to learn that."

"What do you want to learn?" Asami softly asked, not understanding what the little girl meant.

"Healing. I want to learn how to heal people…"

"We'll try that tomorrow if you feel well enough," Korra promised. "So, sleep well, little puppy."

Korra didn't need to repeat it, because Isolina drifted off to a deep sleep a few seconds after that.

The two women got out of the room, finding themselves alone. Well, alone with their troubled thoughts. Both were thinking about what they had seen on Isolina's back, but neither of them voiced their thoughts, until Korra finally spoke:

"What do you think happened?"

"Obviously, she didn't do it herself… I'm more worried by the "who" did that to her…"

"Why? You think it could be her parents?"

"I don't know… But from what we know it's not impossible. But who would do that to their own child?"

"Well, you know, there are a bunch of crazy people out there… But she doesn't seem terrified when we talk of her parents, so I'm a bit skeptical."

"Then, who? What happened to her? It looked like someone flogged her! She's only five! Five, Spirits! How could this have happened?"

"Hey, calm down. It's done, we can't do anything about it."

"And you don't mind?" Asami, who would have been able to strangle her wife and her seemingly indifference at that exact moment, exclaimed.

"No, it's not that. I just don't see the point of making a fuss about it _right_ _now_. It's not going to stop these people."

"I'll go see Beifong tomorrow," the CEO affirmed. "She has to know that. These people, whoever they might be, need to be arrested."

"As long as Isolina doesn't talk, she can't do anything and you know it."

"We have to at least signal it." She grunted, "I hate them!"

"You really don't like when we do anything to the ones you love."

"Who does?!"

Korra laughed, facing the so not-calm behavior of her wife. She, who usually kept a cool head and always prevented her to lose her temper because of whatever reason, it seemed that whenever it concerned Isolina, she lost her usual serenity.

"You're right," the blue-eyed woman admitted. "But you're particularly… aggressive."

"Oh, because you're not? You're even worst. Should I recall you when…"

As the green-eyed woman was going to list all the times when the Avatar had sincerely lost her temper—which was sometimes justified, and other times not really—when the members of the Team Avatar, more specifically Asami, found themselves threatened, Korra interrupted her, admitting her defeat:

"Alright, alright! You got me! No need to do that."

Asami stuck her tongue out, as a child, delighted to be right.

"You're just like a child," Korra said, rolling her eyes. "I think Isolina starts rubbing off on you."

"Well, at least, _I_ was mature someday," Asami teased, with a detached tone, while watching out for her wife's reaction out of the corner of her eye.

"Hey! That's not fair! I am mature! I'm very much mature!"

"That's what you say," Asami said, smirking and starting leaving.

"Asami, take back what you just said! Right now!" Korra ordered, starting following her with a firm and determined pace.

"Huhu."

They both started running, laughing, making a racket, and teasing each other.

This day, they had learnt something horrible and terrifying. So, they just put it to the back of their mind as they played their little game. The next day, they would worry about this, but for now… for now, Isolina was asleep, and they just needed to forget a bit.

Yes, the next day, Asami would go see Beifong, and she would have to remember that the little girl she loved the most had a dark past she was not sure she wanted to know about. But she had to. She had to know if her parents were good for her. Because she would never— _never—_ let her in presence of people who could harm her. And she would always seek her happiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: If you have a little of time, why won't you leave a review? If not, thank you for reading anyway. Many thanks to the readers who are there since the beginning and continue following this story! And for the reviews, which always make me feel better :D
> 
> See you soon!
> 
> Lion

**Author's Note:**

> I'd love to hear what you think! Thanks for reading.
> 
> See you in another story, I hope! ;)


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